LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


Lorenz  Alma  Tadema 


HIS  LIFE  AND  WORKS 


GEORG  EBERS 

Author  of  "  Uarda,"  etc. 


From  the  German  by  MARY  J.  SAFFORD 


WITH  THIRTEEN  IILUSTRATIONS 


NEW  YORK 
WILLIAM  S.  GOTTSBERGER,  PUBLISHER 
II   MURRAY  STREET 
1886 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  i8S6 

BY  William  S.  Gottsberger 
the  OfBce  of  the  librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington 


'HI-:  GFTTV  C^rqcp 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGZ 

I.ORENZ  ALMA  TADf:MA,    ( FRONTISPIECf:). 

FREDEGUNDE  Al    THE    DEATH-BED  OF  KISHOP  I'RAETEX- 


TATUS,  -   1 8 

TRAININc;  OF  CHLOIILDIS'  SONS,       -         -         -         -         -  22 

GROUP  OF  CHESS  PLAYERS,  -59 

ROPE  JUMPER  (A  CRAYON   SKEFCH),  -         -         -         -  42 

DANCLNG  GIRL  (A  CRAYON  SKETCH),  -         -         -         -  44  . 

LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA's  STUDIO,   54 

SCULPTURE  GALLERY  IN  ANCIENT    ROME,  -  -         -  68 

PICTURE  (iALLERY  IN  ANCIENT    ROME,      -         -         -  -  70 

AN  AUDIENCE  Al    AGRIPPA's,  -         -         -         _         _  72 

HIDE  AND  SEEK,  76 

THE       BALNEATRIX,"    77 

MISS  ANNE  TADEMA,  -         -  qq 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


The  cliarm  of  the  author's  twofold  vocation  of  sci- 
entist and  poet  lies  in  his  being  at  liberty  to  devote 
himself  exclusively  to  congenial  occupations ;  and  what 
could  be  pleasanter  than  to  trace  the  life  and  labor  of 
a  man  who  is  very  near  one's  heart,  whose  works  afford 
nothing  but  satisfaction  and  enjoyment,  and  of  whose 
method  of  production  and  sphere  of  activity  he  may 
venture  to  say  —  the  author  as  an  artist  modestly  re- 
tires beliind  Tadema  —  often  and  strikingly  coincide 
with  his  own. 

Yet  it  has  required  much  urging  from  the  publisher 
of  tliese  pages  to  induce  me  to  write  a  biography  of  my 
friend.    He  is  an  artist  and,  as  the  writer  is  only  a  lover 


2 


LORENZ    ALMA  TADEMA. 


of  art,  not  a  professional  art-critic,  he  could  not  at  first 
refrain  from  declining  a  task  for  which  his  capacity  and 
critical  training  in  a  field  at  present  occupied  by  science 
did  not  seem  equal.  But  the  deeper  his  sympathy  with 
the  man  whose  life  and  creations  were  to  be  delineated, 
the  more  tempting  the  commission  appeared  and,  after 
reflecting  upon  the  manner  of  executing  it  and  entering 
into  the  master's  development  and  works,  he  thought 
that  he  who  knew  him  so  well  as  a  man  also  under- 
stood him  as  an  artist,  and  would  probably  be  able 
to  give  a  faithful  picture  of  his  life.  True,  this  must 
from  the  outset  decHne  to  be  judged  as  an  art-criticism, 
and  its  author  will  be  content  and  grateful  if  his  por- 
trayal is  successful  in  presenting  to  other  lovers  of  art 
an  accurate  picture,  in  clear  and  lifelike  form,  of  one  of 
the  greatest  and  most  peculiar  artists  of  our  times. 

Another  and  more  professional  hand,  Vosmaer,  the 
Dutch  author  and  art-critic,  has  undertaken  in  his  art- 
romance,  ''The  Amazon"* — a  work  far  too  little 
known  in  Germany  —  to  give  us  a  portrait  of  Tadema, 


*  English  Translation  published  by  Wm.  S.  Gottsberger,  N.  Y. 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


3 


whose  personality  as  man  and  artist  he  attempted  to 
copy  hne  by  hne  in  the  artist  Aisma ;  but  the  poet  has 
profited  by  the  license  allowed  him  to  add  much  of 
his  own  material  to  the  picture,  and,  moreover,  occu- 
pied himself  more  with  the  finished  master  than  with 
the  process  of  his  development.  In  the  latter  field,  Vos- 
maer  has  diverged  most  widely  from  the  true  course  of 
events ;  but  it  seems  particularly  attractive  to  me  to  fol- 
low the  master's  work,  not  as  a  poet,  but  a  historian, 
and  show  the  finished  artist  to  the  readers  of  these 
pages,  not  in  the  light  of  imagination,  but  precisely  as 
he  is  in  reality. 

The  Tadema  family  (not  Tadema)  is,  as  the  name  — 
which  sounds  like  Habbema,  Wibisma,  Eisinga,  etc  — 
indicates,  an  old  Frieseland  one.  Our  Tadema's  father 
was  a  notary  in  the  beautiful  and  wealthy  village  of 
13ronrijp  in  Leeu warden,  his  mother's  name  was  Brou- 
wer.  At  his  baptism  the  boy  —  born  January  8th, 
1836  —  who  was  to  be  so  great  an  honor  to  his  native 
place,  was  christened  Lorenz.  Alma  is  a  fancy 
name,  adopted  by  himself  when  a  young  artist,  partly 
on  account  of  its  euphonious  sound,  partly  because  he 


4 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


was  vexed  —  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  initial  letter  T 
of  his  name  was  so  far  down  in  the  alphabet — that 
his  pictures  were  always  entered  on  one  of  tlie  last 
pages  of  the  catalogues  of  the  exhibitions. 

Every  one  knows  how  level  and  destitute  of  any 
elevation  are  most  of  the  provinces  of  Holland;  but 
this  cannot  be  asserted  of  the  soil  of  our  friend's  home, 
which  is  rich  in  undulating,  rounded  hills.  Carefully 
tilled  grain-fields  lie  between  luxuriant  meadows,  on 
which  graze  motley  herds  of  cattle;  light  and  shadow 
alternate  harmoniously  in  these  fruitful  fields,  so  rich  in 
every  hue,  and  the  houses  of  Dronrijp  are  picturesquely 
grouped  around  the  lofty  site  of  the  church.  At  sunset 
the  lush  grass  glitters,  the  ripe  grain  shimmers  like 
sparkling  gold,  and  in  the  background  of  this  picture 
the  church  towers  above  the  gently-rising  fertile  hills 
and  the  neat  houses  of  the  peasantry,  as  if  an  artist  had 
chosen  its  location. 

Here  Tadema  received  the  first  impressions  of 
childhood,  here  perhaps  the  bright  colors  and  brilliant 
light,  afterwards  so  exquisitely  portrayed  by  his  art, 
were  stamped  upon  his  soul.    In  this  region,  too,  the 


LOKENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


5 


only  antiquities  found  in  Holland  (coins  and  ornaments 
of  the  Merovingian  period)  were  discovered,  and  seem- 
ing trifles  often  give  the  artist's  soul  the  impulse  to 
the  grandest  acliievements.  Was  he,  afterwards  the 
artist  of  the  Merovingian  dynasty,  directed  towards 
that  great  and  bloody  epoch  of  French  history  by 
some  of  these  things,  a  word  heard,  or  picture  seen 
when  a  child  ? 

His  father  died  young,  but  his  noble  mother  under- 
stood how  to  train  the  vivacious  boy  with  tenderness 
and  discretion.  Like  many  sons  whose  education  is 
directed  by  a  widowed  mother,  his  mind  and  imagina- 
tion developed  with  special  harmony  and  vigor. 

His  father  had  desired  that  his  son,  like  himself, 
should  enter  the  legal  profession,  and  he  was  therefore 
sent  to  the  gymnasium  of  Leeuwarden,  where  the 
family  had  removed,  and  which  is  only  a  few  leagues 
from  Dronrijp.  Here,  too,  there  was  no  lack  of  en- 
couragement to  artistic  taste  and  the  enjoyment  of 
antiquities;  for  in  the  pretty  capital  of  Frieseland  the 
stately,  beautiful,  venerable  town-liall  recalls  the  flower- 
ing of  art  in  past  centuries,  and  a  museum  of  Frieseland 


6 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


antiquities  directs  attention  to  the  former  period  of  the 
bold  and  noble  Frieseland  race,  whose  law  claims : 
The  Frieselanders  must  be  free  so  long  as  the  winds 
blow  from  the  clouds  and  the  world  stands."  They 
have  remained  a  nation  of  free  men,"  and  liave  also 
outwardly  retained  tlieir  ancient  customs  and  costumes 
longer  and  more  firmly  than  any  other  race  of  Lower 
Saxony.  At  the  present  day  Leeuwarden  is  still  re- 
nowned for  the  beauty  of  its  women,  and  in  Tadema's 
boyhood  many  of  them  yet  wore  tlie  superb,  picturesque 
costume  of  their  nation."  How  splendid  is  the  broad 
gold  frontlet  ending  at  the  temples  in  rosettes  or  oval 
gold  plates,  in  which  diamonds  often  glitter;  what  a 
stately  appearance  the  cap  and  veil  of  costly  lace  gave 
and  still  lends  the  more  conservative  women ;  how  ad- 
mirably the  ear-rings,  flashing  with  gems  of  great  value, 
which  descended  as  a  family  heirloom  from  mother  to 
daughter,  suited  a  beautiful  face.  This  brilliant  cos- 
tume, so  striking  a  contrast  to  our  plain  garb,  which 
rigidly  excludes  everything  unique  and  magnificent, 
could  not  fail  to  please  the  young  artist  and  incite  him 
to  seek  the  ages  when  everybody  wore  gold  ornaments 


LORENZ  ALMA  lADEMA. 


7 


and  gay  garments.  And  Tadenia's  l)oyish  eyes  had 
acquired  betimes  the  artistic  intuition,  his  talent  liad 
shown  itseh'in  early  childhood.  It  was  first  noticed  — 
so  he  told  me  himself — when  he  was  scarcely  five 
years  old.  Merely  for  the  sake  of  occupation,  he  had 
shared  the  drawing  lessons  given  to  his  older  brothers, 
and  while  the  teacher  was  sketching  for  him  a  block 
used  as  a  model,  he  had  seized  his  hand  and  showed 
him  that  a  certain  line  ought  not  to  run  as  it  did,  but 
the  opposite  way.  Soon  his  genius  attracted  attention 
by  other  litUe  independent  productions;  but  though  his 
mother  placed  no  obstacles  in  the  way  of  the  early 
choice  of  his  profession,  she  insisted  that  he  must  first 
complete  his  course  of  study  at  the  gymnasium,  and 
the  studious  lad,  who  as  soon  as  he  understood  the 
classics  took  pleasure  in  the  ancient  languages,  wil- 
Hngly  yielded.  Here  he  obtained  access  to  those 
sources  from  which  he  \vas  to  draw  the  best  and  most 
precious  material  for  his  later  works ;  here,  for  the  first 
time,  he  was  brought  in  contact  with  the  life  of  the 
Greeks  and  Romans,  which,  as  a  finished  artist  in 
Italy,  he  made  peculiarly  his  own. 


8 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


His  eager  mind,  his  remarkable  linguistic  talent,  and 
the  industry  peculiar  to  him,  carried  him  through  his 
classes  at  school  so  rapidly,  that  in  1853  he  could  be 
sent  to  the  academy  in  Antwerp.  He  left  his  sister's 
portrait,  his  first  independent  production,  with  his 
family,  and  diligently  labored  under  De  Keyser  and 
Wappers  in  the  Belgian  art-capital  to  perfect  himself  as 
an  artist. 

He  was  a  merry  young  fellow,  universally  popular, 
fond  of  all  the  pleasures  of  the  gay  artist-world  to 
which  he  belonged,  yet  full  of  earnest  devotion  to 
study.  The  lively  youth  took  the  cares  of  life  very 
lightly,  but  had  a  serious  view  of  art,  and  it  was  long 
before  he  attained  any  degree  of  self-confidence. 
Great  as  were  his  talent  and  industry  he  could  estab- 
lish a  very  severe  standard  for  himself,  and  at  first 
none  of  his  productions  seemed  to  him  worthy  of 
being  exhibited  or  offered  for  sale. 

In  the  French-speaking  portion  of  Belgium,  among 
masters  and  companions,  the  majority  of  whom  looked 
to  France  for  their  best  inspirations,  the  German  blood 
of  his  race  strongly  asserted  itself.     The  coloring  of 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


9 


this  artist  was  at  first  Dutch,  the  subject  chosen  for 
his  first  picture  was  German,  and  Tadema,  thougli  a 
native  of  Frieseland,  who  developed  into  a  master  in 
Belgium  and  France  and  finally  settled  in  London  as 
a  naturalized  Englishman,  nevertheless  aroused  more 
sympathy  in  Germany  than  any  other  foreign  artist  and 
by  means  of  his  creations  so  identified  himself  with 
the  lovers  of  art,  that  we  to  a  certain  extent  number 
him  among  ourselves.  Tliis  phenomenon  is  no  acci- 
dental one,  but  may  be  explained  by  the  German 
basis  of  his  character^  the  German  truthfulness,  sim- 
plicity, and  extreme  thoroughness,  which  distinguish 
everything  he  creates.  Nothing  can  better  confirm 
this  statement  than  the  fact  that  Faust  and  Gret- 
chen  "  was  the  subject  of  the  first  large  picture  he 
painted  in  the  Belgian  art-school.*  He  finished  this 
aquarelle  in  1857  and  presented  it  to  the  host  of  the 
cercle  artistique  to  which  he  belonged.  He  treated  his 
second  work,  whose  subject  was  an  incident  in  the 
history  of  his  native  land:   ^'The  Destruction  of  Ter- 

*  Engravings  or  photographs  of  all  Alma  Tadema's  pictures  may 
be  obtained  at  L.  H.  Lefevre's,  London,  King  Street,  St.  James 
Square. 


lO 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADExMA. 


doest  Abbey,"  with  equal  disrespect  by  giving  it  to  his 
mother's  cook  to  put  somewhere  in  the  dining-room. 

So  long  as  his  creations  did  not  correspond  with 
the  ideal  that  hovered  before  him,  they  seemed  value- 
less •  but  he  felt  tliat  this  ideal  was  attainable  and  fail- 
ure did  not  discourage,  only  stimulated  him  to  im- 
provement. Besides,  success  soon  came  and  when,  in 
1859,  his  mother  accepted  his  invitation  and  with  his 
sister  joined  him  in  Antwerp,  he  threw  himself  into  his 
work  with  redoubled  zest  under  the  eyes  of  this  be- 
loved, admirable  w^oman,  and  found  the  right  teacher  in 
the  person  of  one  of  the  noblest  and  most  lovable 
artists  of  our  century.  Tadema,  if  any  artist,  may  be 
cited  as  an  example  that  a  talented  young  painter  de- 
rives infinitely  greater  benefit  from  the  instruction  of  a 
capable  master,  than  from  the  course  of  lectures  at  the 
Academy — no  matter  w^hat  name  it  bears.  How 
many  of  our  leading  sculptors  and  painters  I  have 
heard  enthusiastically  support  this  opinion  ! 

The  Plundering  of  Egmond  Abbey,"  completed 
in  1859,  Tadema  valued  very  little,  like  many  others^ 
and  therefore  threw  it  aside,  but  he  now  succeeded 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA.  II 

in  being  received  as  a  pupil  by  Van  Leys,  who  at  that 
time  had  deviated  widely  from  the  French  romantic 
school  he  had  joined  in  his  youth,  and  regained  the 
simplicity  and  directness  natural  to  him.  Leys  had 
reached  this  turn  in  Germany,  and  thither  he  was 
often  attracted  during  the  years  of  Tadema's  pupil- 
age. Though  this  master's  genius  did  not  enable  him 
to  treat  great  historical  subjects  with  powerful  effect, 
he  was  nevertheless  a  thorough  artist  and  a  keen  ob- 
server. The  critic  perceives  in  his  ''Walk  outside  of 
the  City  "  and  his  "  Mass,"  a  more  healthful  realism,  and 
a  more  successful  and  loving  devotion  to  actual  life 
than  in  any  other  paintings  of  that  period;  the  portraits 
by  him,  too,  which  I  have  seen,  are  distinguished  by 
great  truthfulness  and  a  realism  which  seems  ready  to 
sacrifice  beauty  to  accuracy.  Besides,  his  pictures 
cannot  be  denied  a  brilliancy  of  coloring  he  owed  to 
his  Parisian  masters.  He  usually  chose  subjects  from 
the  life  of  the  people  and  the  history  of  his  native  land, 
and  these  are  employed  even  for  the  frescoes  in  the 
great  guildhall  of  Antwerp,  which  he  did  not  live  to 
complete. 


12 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


In  this  artist  Tadema  found  the  right  master.  No 
one  can  deny  that  the  works  of  Van  Leys  possess  rare 
directness  and  Tadema,  who  has  one  of  the  most 
straightforward  natures  I  ever  met,  brought  him  a  high 
degree  of  this  very  quality.  If  the  Belgian  master's 
personaHty  can  be  deduced  from  his  w^orks,  he  must 
have  had  an  extremely  amiable,  truthful,  and  spite  of 
all  his  simplicity,  a  vigorous  and  independent  artist 
nature ;  if  the  tree  may  be  judged  by  the  fruit,  he  w^as 
also  an  admirable  teacher,  and  Tadema  himself  says 
that  Van  Leys'  instruction  made  an  era  in  his  wdiole 
development.  Yet  he  was  far  from  subjecting  himself 
absolutely  to  his  master's  mannerism.  From  the  be- 
ginning he  remained  faithful  to  himself,  and  with  perfect 
justice  could  say  in  after  years  to  the  well-informed 
art-critic,  Zimmern  :  If  I  have  obtained  any  degree 
of  success,  it  is  because  I  have  always  been  faithful 
to  my  own  ideas,  followed  the  inspirations  of  my  own 
brain,  and  imitated  no  other  artist.  Whoever  wishes 
to  accomplish  anything  in  any  career  in  life  must  first 
of  all  be  faithful  to  his  own  nature,  and  this,  I  may 
assure  you,  I  always  have  been." 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


13 


While  his  skill  rapidly  increased  under  the  eyes  of 
his  teaclier,  Leys,  his  attention  was  turned  towards  a 
period  of  European  history  which,  though  as  a  whole 
monstrous  and  detestable,  is  in  detail  extremely  rich  in 
artistic  material. 

Gregory  of  Tours'  History  of  the  Franks  had  fallen 
into  his  hands  and  made  him  familiar  with  the  royal 
family  of  the  Merovingian  dynasty,  at  whose  head 
stood  men  of  powerful  frame  clad  in  golden  armor, 
beautiful,  yet  terrible  women,  with  floating  hair  or  glit- 
tering diadems,  attired  in  brilHant  robes  and  flashing 
jewels.  Merovingian  antiquities  had  been  found  near 
his  native  village,  it  was  not  difficult  for  the  well- 
educated  young  artist  to  read  the  simple  Latin  of  the 
Bishop  of  Tours,  and  it  has  aflbrded  me  special 
pleasure  to  trace  the  manner  in  which  he  has  used 
Gregory's  narrative  and  how,  even  at  that  time,  he 
strove,  with  the  scientific  sense  and  painstaking  faithful- 
ness of  the  scholar,  to  search  out  and  profit  by  every 
trace  that  could  be  obtained  of  the  costumes,  weapons, 
household  utensils,  and  ornaments  of  the  Merovingian 
period. 


14 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


The  historical  work  just  mentioned  is  really  a 
treasure-house  of  art  material,  and  when  Vosmaer  ask- 
ing his  light-hearted  friend,  to  whom  everything  gloomy 
and  monstrous  seemed  utterly  alien,  how  he  had  hap- 
jDened  to  choose  the  Merovingians,  received  the  gay 
answer :  They  are  a  '  sorry  lot,'  to  be  sure,  still 
they  are  picturesque  and  interesting."  Tadema  was 
perfectly  right,  and  the  work  of  their  historian,  to  those 
imaginative  persons  who  can  conjure  before  their 
mental  vision  all  the  strange  and  horrible  deeds  perpe- 
trated by  these  men  and  women,  becomes  as  bewitch- 
ing and  absorbing  as  a  thrilling  and  tragic  epic  poem. 
Though  Gregory  of  Tours  lacks  the  critical  circumspec- 
tion we  demand  from  our  modern  historians,  he  is 
nevertheless  a  first-class  narrator,  whose  vivid  manner 
of  recital  gains  a  special  charm  from  his  speaking  in  be- 
half of  his  heroes  and  —  in  a  way  far  too  personal  for 
a  historian  —  taking  sides  with  them  as  suits  his  own 
fancy,  and  showing  the  reward  for  virtue  and  punish- 
ment for  crime  during  the  earthly  life  of  the  individual. 

Shortly  before  obtaining  Van  Leys  for  a  master, 
Tadema  had  directed  his  attention  to  the  time  of  the 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


15 


Migration  of  the  Nations.  A  pencil  study  made  in  the 
year  1859  for  the  water-color  of  Attila's  death  is  in 
Vosmaer's  possession,  and  the  picture  of  "  Chlotildis  * 
at  the  Grave  of  her  Grandchildren  "  belongs  to  the 
same  period. 

This  picture  distinctly  shows  how  he  used  his 
source  of  inspiration.  A  thrilling  scene  took  posses- 
sion of  his  soul,  and  he  expanded  it,  freed  it  from  what 
he  had  read,  and  gave  artistic  expression  to  the  con- 
ception which,  in  mentally  recasting  the  fact,  had  most 
deeply  impressed  him.  Gregory  of  Tours  makes  no 
mention  of  the  queen  mourning  at  the  grave,  but  tells 
the  following  story  :  The  first  great  Chlodwig  had  by 
Chlotildis,  the  daughter  of  the  Burgundian  king,  three 
sons :  Chlodomer,  Childebert,  and  Chlotar.  The 
oldest  was  slain  in  a  battle  with  the  Burgundians,  but 
his  mother,  Chlotildis,  received  his  sons  in  Paris, 
where  she  reared  them  with  special  love  and  care. 
Her  second  son,  Childebert,  became  jealous  of  liis 
nephews  and  fearing  that,  tln-ough  his  mother's  affec- 

^  Gregory  of  Tours  writes  the  name  differently  ;  Chrodichildis 
and  Chlothieldis. 


l6  LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 

tion,  they  might  obtain  the  throne,  he  secretly  sent, 
messengers  to  his  brother  Chlotar,  and  summoned  him 
to  Paris,  where  they  determined  to  murder  the  lads. 
To  get  possession  of  the  children,  they  induced  their 
mother  to  place  them  in  their  charge  on  the  pretext  of 
raising  them  to  the  throne.  This  plan  pleased  Chlo- 
tildis  because  her  grandsons  were  the  children  of  her 
oldest  son.  As  soon  as  the  boys  were  in  their  uncles' 
power,  Chlotar  seized  the  eldest  by  the  arm,  hurled  him 
on  the  ground,  thrust  a  knife  into  his  shoulder  and 
cruelly  murdered  him.  At  the  loud  shrieks  of  the  dying 
prince,  the  other  boy  threw  himself  at  Childebert's  feet, 
clasped  his  knees  and  cried,  amid  his  tears  :  *  Protect 
me,  dear  uncle,  that  I  may  not  die  like  my  brother!' 
Childebert,  with  tears  streaming  down  his  face,  ex- 
claimed :  '  Give  me  this  child's  life,  I  beg  you,  my 
dear  brother;  I  will  guarantee  what  you  desire,  only 
don't  kill  him.'  But  the  other,  loading  him  with 
abuse,  answered  :  *  Push  him  off  or  die  in  his  stead ! 
You  planned  this  affair  yourself,'  he  added,  ^  will  you 
prove  recreant  so  soon  ?'  When  Childebert  heard 
this,  he  thrust  the  boy  away  and  threw  him  into  his 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


17 


brother's  hands.  Chlotar  grasped  him,  plunged  the 
knife  into  his  side  and  killed  him  as  he  had  murdered 
the  elder  brother.  Then  they  also  killed  the  chil- 
dren's servants  and  tutors  ....  The  queen  placed  the 
bodies  of  the  two  princes  on  the  same  bier  and,  amid 
chants  and  unutterable  grief,  followed  them  herself  to 
St.  Peter's  Ciuirch  and  there  buried  them  together. 
One  was  ten,  the  other  seven  years  old." 

Tadema  selected  no  passage  of  this  striking  narra- 
tive for  representation,  but  his  artist  eye  looked  beyond 
what  Gregory  related  and  beheld  the  image  of  the 
grandmother  as  she  lingered,  mourning,  beside  the 
grave  of  her  darlings,  for  whom  she  had  cherished 
hopes  so  grand  and  beautiful,  thinking  of  them  with 
grieving  love. 

On  the  other  hand  our  friend  often  closely  adhered 
to  the  event  described  by  his  historian ;  for  instance,  in 
his  picture  of  Fredegunde  at  the  death-bed  of  Bishop 
Praetextatus^"  which  was  completed  three  years  after 
he  became  Van  Leys'  pupil.  All  Tadema's  great 
quaHties  appear  in  this  superb  painting:  thorough 
comprehension   of  the  subject  to   be  treated,  har- 


i8 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


monious  composition,  in  which  every  figure  has  its 
just  value,  pervaded  by  what  might  be  termed  a  classic 
repose  that  serves  in  the  happiest  manner  as  a  foil  to 
the  passionate  emotion  of  the  principal  character,  the 
most  loving  choice  and  elaboration  of  detail,  an  un- 
derlying mood  which  pow^erfully  moves  the  spectator's 
soul,  and  a  fidelity  in  the  representation  of  architecture 
and  costume,  that  rejects  everything  the  connoisseur 
might  exclude  as  not  belonging  to  the  period  of  the 
event  depicted. 

Gregory  of  Tours  gives  the  following  account  of 
the  incident  represented  in  the  picture  just  mentioned : 
"  At  the  instigation  of  Fredegunde,  Praetextatus,  Bishop 
of  Rouen,  was  insidiously  attacked  on  Easter  Sunday, 
while  commencing  the  alternating  chants,  and  severely 
w^ounded  under  the  shoulder  by  the  assassin's  sword. 
The  prelate  was  instantly  borne  to  his  chamber  by 
his  attendants  and  laid  upon  his  bed,  and  soon  after 
Fredegunde  appeared  with  the  Dukes  Beppolen  and 
Ausovald.  She  feigned  indignation  at  what  had  oc- 
curred and  an  ardent  desire  to  discover  the  perpetrator 
and  severely  punish  his  crime.    The  bishop,  who  per- 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


19 


ceived  her  treachery,  replied  :  *  Who  did  it  ?  The 
same  i)erson  who  murdered  our  kings,  who  has  so 
often  shed  innocent  blood  and  has  committed  so  many 
crimes  in  this  realm.'  Then  Fredegunde  said :  '  I 
have  very  skilful  physicians  who  will  cure  your  wound. 
Permit  them  to  visit  you.'  —  *  It  is  God's  will  to  sum- 
mon me  from  this  world  now,'  he  answered ;  *  but  you, 
from  whom  all  these  crimes  emanated,  will  be  accursed 
throughout  eternity,  and  God  will  avenge  my  blood 
upon  your  head.'  Then  she  went  away,  but  the  bishop 
set  his  affairs  in  order  and  expired." 

Here  the  picture  follows  Gregory's  narrative  line 
by  line.  Praetextatus  has  raised  himself  to  a  sitting 
posture  on  the  couch  and,  beneath  the  shoulder  of  the 
arm  rigidly  extended  in  malediction,  is  seen  the 
wound,  whose  bandage  has  been  loosed  by  the  violent 
gesture.  The  victim's  countenance  is  not  the  face  of  a 
gentle  pastor;  it  seems  as  if  Tadema  had  known  that 
he  —  as  criticism  has  since  proved  —  had  not  been 
exiled  without  guilt.  There  is  great  energy  in  the 
countenance  and  hand  of  the  ])relate  uttering  the 
curse.     The  calmness  of  the  queen,  who  sits  beside 


20 


LORENZ   ALMA  TADEMA. 


the  deathbed,  forms  a  singular,  nay,  startUng  contrast 
to  this  violent  emotion.  She  is  beautiful,  very  beautiful; 
we  can  understand  that  for  her  sake  the  rich  but  hap- 
less Princess  Galsvintha  could  be  abandoned  and 
murdered  by  her  husband,  Chilperich.  The  faint,  sar- 
castic smile,  with  which  she  has  offered  the  aid  of  her 
physicians  to  her  victim,  still  hovers  around  her  lovely 
lips.  Habituated  to  murder  and  bloodshed,  what  to 
her  is  the  bishop's  wrath,  since  she  is  sure  that  she  has 
removed  him  from  her  path  ?  His  :  It  is  God's  will 
to  summon  me  from  this  world  now !"  appears  to  ring 
pleasantly  in  her  ears.  The  priest,  who  stands  between 
her  and  the  death-bed,  holding  the  sacrament  in  his 
right  hand  and  gazing  in  mute  wrath  at  the  guilty 
woman,  is  an  exquisite  figure.  Nor  are  the  two  dukes, 
who  accompany  the  queen,  forgotten.  The  prelate's 
sleeping-room  is  low,  yet  not  destitute  of  ornament. 
The  bedstead,  the  heavy  beams  of  the  ceiling,  the  large 
pattern  of  the  mosaic  of  the  floor  and  the  curtain  of  the 
couch,  the  pillars,  and  the  heavy  angular  chair  in  which 
Fredegunde  sits  —  everything,  even  the  costume  and 
armor  of  the  dukes,  is  genuine.    Such  must  have  been 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


21 


the  appearance  of  a  bishop's  sleephig-room  in  the 
Merovingian  era.  There  is  nothing  modern  —  neither 
in  the  accessories  nor  the  personages.  Everything  oc- 
cupies its  right  place,  and  the  curse  of  the  murdered 
man  echoes  shrilly  and  awfully  amid  the  quiet  of  the 
death-chamber.  The  beautiful  woman  still  smiles,  but 
it  seems  as  if  her  limbs  were  already  growing  rigid 
under  the  ban  of  the  malediction. 

In  i860,  before  the  completion  of  this  picture,  the 
first  fruit  of  Leys'  instruction  had  already  appeared  in 
the  magnificent  painting  destined  to  instantly  raise 
Tadema  to  the  ranks  of  the  first  artists  of  his  time  and 
make  his  name  famous.  The  material  to  be  trans- 
formed in  his  soul  and  on  his  canvas  into  tlie  brilliant 
scene  instinct  with  life,  that  is  shown  our  readers  in  the 
adjoining  copy,  was  derived  from  a  brief  admonition. 
Chlodwig's  wife,  Chlotildis,  was  the  daughter  of  the 
third  of  the  four  sons  of  the  Burgundian  king,  Gunde- 
vech.  Prior  to  her  marriage  with  the  great  Chlodvvig, 
her  uncle  Gundobad,  from  base  greed,  had  stabbed  her 
father,  Chilperich,  and  hurled  her  mother,  with  a  stone 
around  her  neck,  into  the  water  to  be  drowned.  After 


1 


22                  LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA.  I 

having,  as  queen  of  France,  shared  her  husband's  j 

grandeur  and  mourned  for  him  —  he  died  in  his  forty-  j 

fifth  year — she,  who,  "in  all  decorum  and  constant  be-  | 

nevolence,'*  resided  at  Tours,  said  to  her  half-grown  ' 

sons :  "  Do  not  let  me  repent,  my  dear  sons,  that  I  J 
have  lovingly  reared  you.    Remember  with  wrath,  I 
beg  you,  the  outrage  I  have  endured,  and  avenge 

wisely  and  boldly  the  deaths  of  my  father  and  mother."  \ 

Tadema  shows  us  the  noble  queen  during  the  effort  j 
to  steel  the  avenging  arms,  and  the  axe  the  boy  is 

throwing  for  practice  —  perhaps  the  "  Franziska,"  his  ; 

father  understood  how  to  swing  so  powerfully  —  is  not  j 

hurled  merely  against  the  target  erected;  no,  the  mark  ! 

that  stands  before  the  prince's  mental  vision  is  doubt-  , 

less  the    brow  of  the  hated  murderer,   his   uncle.  | 

His  mother,  with  her  youngest  son  clinging  to  her  j 

side,  is  watching  him.  He  knpws  it  and  summons  | 
all  his  strength  and  dexterity  to  display  his  skill.  His 

instructor,  the  armed  warrior,  who  has  bent  low  on  one  ^ 
side  to  watch  the  cast,  is  an  exquisite  and  strikingly 
lifelike  figure.    Before  the  queen,  who  is  seated  on  a 

throne  under  the  pillared  roof  of  a  corridor  which  sur-  \ 


LOKENZ  ALMA  TADEiMA. 


23 


rounds  the  court-yard,  stands  lier  second  son,  a  deli- 
cate little  lad ;  but  he,  too,  holds  an  axe  in  his  hand 
and  is  only  waiting  until  his  older  brother  has  per- 
formed his  task  and  it  will  be  his  turn  to  throw. 
Queen  Chlotildis  rejoices  in  her  children's  strength,  yet 
her  features  express  care  and  sorrow.  She  is  thinking 
of  past  grief,  and  perhaps  her  boding  heart  tells  her 
what  anguish  these  children,  she  is  training  for 
avengers,  will  cause  her  in  the  future  by  their  guilty 
shedding  of  blood.  There  is  not  a  single  figure  among 
the  courtiers  which  is  not  extremely  individual  and 
attractive. 

The  young  master  has  clearly  shown  in  this  picture 
his  Dutch  training,  but  shuns  the  chiaro-oscuro  and 
light-effects  of  a  Rembrandt,  and  here,  as  in  the  ma- 
jority of  his  later  paintings,  places  the  objects  repre- 
sented in  clear,  broad  daylight.  This  treatment  lends 
most  of  Tadema's  pictures  the  brightness  and  clearness 
so  strikingly  peculiar  to  the  non-connoisseur,  and  per- 
mits the  artist  to  everywhere  assert  the  value  of  his 
colors. 

After  the  "Training  of  Chlotildis'  Sons"  had  ex;- 


24 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


cited  the  greatest  enthusiasm  in  the  art  exhibition  at 
Antwerp  in  i860,  it  passed  into  the  possession  of  the 
King  of  Belgium,  and  Rennefeld's  engraving  of  the 
picture  soon  made  the  tour  of  the  world.  It  was  fol- 
lowed by  a  series  of  other  paintings  of  the  Merovingian 
era :  first,  Guntram  Boso  who,  while  conducting  his 
daughters  from  Poitiers,  is  attacked  on  the  way  by 
Chilperich's  men  and,  after  commending  the  poor  girls 
to  God  and  His  saints,  kills  their  leader  and  saves  his 
children.  The  death  of  Galsvintha,  who  is  strangled 
for  Fredegunde's  sake,  is  also  mentioned  here. 

Being  perfectly  familiar  with  the  history  of  the 
Prankish  Kings,  he  had  also  known  the  story  of  the 
most  prominent  poet  of  their  time,  Venantius  Fortu- 
natus,  who  is  so  closely  associated  with  the  life  of  the 
saintly  Radegunde.  This  pious  princess,  deeply  incensed 
because  her  husband  Chlotar  had  stained  his  hands 
with  the  blood  of  the  last  son  of  the  Thuringian  kings, 
had  left  him  and  found  peace  in  the  convent  of  Poi- 
tiers. How  gratefully  she  must  have  listened  to  the 
poet  in  priestly  garb,  as  in  the  abbess'  quiet  cell  he 
read  aloud  to  her  the  elegy  upon  the  fall  of  the  Thur- 


LOKENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


ingian  Kingdom,  her  beloved  home.  He  had  clothed 
it  in  the  form  of  a  letter  to  the  last  surviving  scion  of 
her  illustrious  race  and  sent  it  to  Constantinople,  where 
the  latter  had  retired.  He  had  also  sung  the  hapless 
Galsvintha's  fate  and,  though  his  verses  are  often  im- 
pure and  not  wholly  free  from  the  affectation  and  of- 
fensive want  of  taste  of  his  time,  many  lines  are  marked 
by  genuine  warmth  of  heart,  an  emotion  he  seems  to 
have  felt  for  the  cloistered  queen,  and  which  his  whole 
bearing  expresses  in  the  beautiful  picture  Venantius 
reading  his  poems  to  Radegunde." 

The  year  1863  was  specially  momentous  to  Ta- 
dema,  for  in  it  he  lost  his  beloved  mother,  made  his 
iirst  visit  to  Italy  (Florence,  Rome,  and  Naples)  and 
married  his  first  wife,  a  young  French  girl  of  the  an- 
cient noble  family  of  Dumoulin  de  Bougirard.  The 
Praetextatus "  and  the  Venantius  reading  his 
Verses  "  are  the  first  paintings  emanating  from  his  pil- 
grimage to  Rome  that  became  known  to  us,  and 
Vosmaer  is  right  when  —  especially  in  the  last  named 
picture  —  he  notes  a  perceptible  improvement  over 
Tadema's  earlier  productions,  admirable  as  they  were 


26 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEiMA. 


ill  their  way.  This  refers  particularly  to  the  coloring 
and  the  vigor  and  clearness  with  Avhich  the  artist  ex- 
presses his  conception. 

Tadema's  artistic  genius,  like  his  whole  character,  is 
thoroughly  open,  frank,  and  joyous,  and  he  could  not 
possibly  find  constant  pleasure  in  the  scenes  of  horror 
and  deeds  of  rude  violence  of  the  Merovingian  epoch, 
no  matter  how  many  picturesquely  effective  subjects 
they  might  offer.  Therefore  in  Italy  he  turned  from 
the  Frank  royal  family,  and  if  in  the  Praetextatus," 
the  "  Venantius,"  and  the  three  pictures  from  the  life  of 
an  honorable  woman  (Galsvintha)  painted  in  1878,  he 
went  back  to  it  again,  it  was  probably  because  he  had 
planned  the  first  picture  before  this  departure,  and  the 
second  united,  as  it  were,  the  old  material  with  the 
fresh  matter  that  poured  in  upon  him  from  Rome  and 
Hellas.  Venantius  Fortunatus'  verses  were  written  in 
the  language  of  Horace  and  often  contain  echoes  of 
the  poetry  of  the  Roman  classic  writers.  He  was  at- 
tracted by  these  greater  men ;  but  it  is  still  a  marvel 
that  one  so  thoroughly  familiar  with  the  Merovingian 
era  did  not  use  the  Bishop  of  Vienna,  Eididius  Avitus, 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


27 


whose  Beginning  of  the  World  "  has  been  shown  by 
Guizot  to  bear  so  close  a  resemblance  to  Milton's 
"  Paradise  Lost." 

While  in  Italy  he  lost  his  taste  for  the  representa- 
tion of  isolated  historical  events.  He  fared,  as  every 
student  of  history  must  fare  under  the  present  method 
of  historical  instruction  in  all  schools  and  with  the  con- 
tents and  arrangement  of  our  historical  text-books  — 
history  in  them  means  simply  political  history.  What 
is  tauglit  is  the  fate  of  reigning  families  and  individual 
kings,  the  encounters  of  nations  in  war  and  battles,  and 
the  development  of  strength  or  the  decline  in  power 
and  loss  of  territory  of  different  peoples.  Better  teachers 
discuss  the  characters  of  the  rulers  and  other  striking 
personal  traits,  as  well  as  the  legislation  of  govern- 
ments ;  but  they,  too,  are  more  eager  to  accurately 
describe  the  course  of  a  bloody  battle  than  to  enter 
into  the  daily  life  of  the  contending  nations,  and 
carefully  delineate  the  course  of  existence  in  time  of 
peace. 

The  student  leaves  the  gymnasium  with  the  knowl- 
edge of  numerous  political  events,  many  names  of 


28 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


kings,  and  dates.  Not  until,  released  from  school 
restraint,  he  goes  back  independently  to  the  sources  of 
information,  does  he  discover  that  he  has  learned  little 
of  the  character  and  life  of  the  peoples  he  has  been 
shown.  He  has  only  known  them  in  a  state  of  turmoil 
and  restless  excitement.  As  soon  as  the  sensible  lover 
of  the  historic  life  of  mankind  discovers  this  fact,  he 
turns  from  the  political  history  of  royal  families  and 
governments,  and  perceives  that  a  people's  true  history 
is  the  history  of  its  civilization,  which  teaches  the 
normal  character  of  nations,  their  life  in  a  condition  of 
health,  and  he  joyfully  perceives  how  much  more 
dehghtful  it  is  to  make  himself  familiar  with  the  homes 
of  the  people  to  be  investigated,  the  regulations  of 
their  government,  their  civil  and  social  life,  their 
religion  and  science,  than  to  know  the  names  and 
bloody  deeds  of  their  kings  and  the  battles  they 
fought. 

From  the  kingdom  of  the  Franks  Tadema  turned, 
as  has  been  said,  to  Rome  and  Hellas,  and  here  the 
progress  of  civilization  aw^akened  an  interest  that  far 
outweiglied  every  other.    If  he  had  commenced  by 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


29 


picturing  witli  brush  and  pencil  isolated  events  that 
had  occurred  in  the  Merovingian  royal  family,  in 
Rome,  the  world's  centre,  his  gaze  extended  to  the 
borders  of  the  earth,  and  instead  of  seeking  subjects  in 
the  pages  of  a  vivid  historian,  he  fixed  his  eyes  on  the 
nations  of  antiquity,  and  without  troubling  himself 
much  about  their  political  history,  began  to  investigate 
their  life  in  all  its  phases.  The  aspect  of  nature  in 
Southern  Europe  appealed  powerfully  to  his  souL 
The  deep  blue  of  the  sky  wliich  overarches  Italy,  the 
varying  hues  of  tlie  waves  that  wash  its  shore,  made  a 
profound  impression  upon  him  and  blended  their 
glitter  with  the  sunny  radiance  of  his  own  artist  soul. 
He  examined  marble,  the  mother  of  so  many  works  of 
art,  wlierever  he  found  it  :  in  its  quarry,  amid  ruins,  and 
in  new  palaces,  and  learned  to  know  it  in  every  stage  of 
its  existence,  every  shade  of  coloring,  and  every  imagi- 
nable liglit.  Like  a  beloved  friend,  whom  we  clasp 
until  every  feeling  of  his  soul  lies  open  before  us,  he 
penetrated  all  the  mysteries  of  this  wonderful  stone 
and  learned  to  represent  it  new  and  weather-beaten,  in 
monotone  and  variegated,  in  the  brightest  sunlight  and 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


the  deepest  shadow,  with  such  fidehty  to  nature  that 
the  critic's  searching  gaze  cannot  distinguish  the 
painted  marble  in  his  pictures  from  the  genuine. 
With  equal  care  he  studied  the  green  of  the  cypress, 
the  brilliant  colors  of  the  poppies  and  anemonies  of  the 
South,  the  pale  pink  hues  of  the  oleander  blossoms 
and  the  noble  form  and  tint  of  the  pines.  I  have 
spent  delightful  sunny  days  with  him  on  the  shore  of 
the  Mediterranean,  and  witnessed  how  tenderly  he 
appropriated  to  himself  nature  in  the  South,  how 
untiringly  he  searched  for  a  certain  shrub  he  meant  to 
use,  and  how  widely  his  soul  opened  to  the  spell  of 
light  and  color  with  w^hich  the  Ligurian  strand  is  so 
richly  blessed.  One  beautiful  spring  morning  —  the 
sea  was  sparkling  like  pure  sapphires  and  the  prince's 
garden,  after  a  rainy  day,  was  displaying  the  most  lux- 
uriant vernal  green  foliage  —  he  stood  silently  beside 
me  a  long  time,  revelling  in  this  splendor;  at  last, 
drawing  a  deep  breath,  he  exclaimed :  "  Can  there  be 
anything  more  superb  ?  And  yet  fools  say  that  pale- 
green  and  blue  do  not  harmonize !" 

He  entered  into  the  lives  of  the  men  of  ancient 


LORENZ  ALiMA  TADEMA. 


31 


times  as  thoroughly  as  into  tlie  natural  scenery  of 
Southern  Europe,  and  soon  became  familiar  with 
everything  relating  to  the  persons  and  surroundings  of 
the  rulers,  the  nobles'  dress,  the  arms  and  ornaments  of 
the  army;  but  he  was  even  more  eager  to  learn  the 
appearance  of  the  citizens'  houses,  the  workshops  of 
artists  and  artisans,  the  markets  and  the  baths.  The 
sailor's  boat,  tlie  fisherman's  net,  the  labor  of  the  vine- 
dresser and  husbandman  —  everything  appertaining  to 
the  daily  life  of  the  ancients  —  from  the  noblest  work 
of  art  to  the  most  insignificant  clay  jug  the  potter 
turned  on  his  wheel  —  possessed  interest  for  him.  His 
scientific  perception  carried  him  into  the  very  heart  of 
family  life.  Every  garment,  every  ornament  Avhich  had 
been  worn  by  men  and  women,  nay,  even  the  way  that 
the  children  had  been  clothed  and  educated  became 
familiar  to  him.  He  soon  understood  the  arrangement 
of  the  houses  so  thoroughly' that  he  could  assign  each 
utensil  its  proper  place  —  there  is  not  a  piece  of  furni- 
ture, not  a  vessel  possessed  by  the  ancients  of  which  he 
does  not  own  specimens  or  copies.  The  same  remark 
may  be  made  of  musical  instruments,  and  no  living 


32 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


man  knows  better  how  they  were  used  by  the  ancients, 
and  in  what  way  the  latter  trod  the  mazes  of  the  dance. 
He  collected  every  scrap  of  information  that  has 
reached  our  day  about  social  pleasures  in  Egypt, 
Rome,  and  Hellas,  and  when  he  shows  his  friends  pay- 
ing the  last  honors  to  the  dead,  it  might  be  supposed 
that  he  had  witnessed  the  wailing  of  the  widows,  and 
the  grief  of  the  king  from  whom  the  will  of  the 
Supreme  Being  had  snatched  his  first-bom.  Though 
he  had  not  remained  ignorant  during  his  school-days 
of  the  religion  of  ancient  times,  he  now  investigated 
the  temple  ruins  in  Italy  and  made  himself  acquainted 
with  the  costumes  and  privileges  of  the  priests,  the 
routine  of  the  w^orship,  the  sacrifices,  and  festal  pro- 
cessions. 

He  probably  reads  and  studies  many  an  ancient 
poet  and  author  and  the  best  books  upon  the  life  of 
ancient  times,  but  the  sources  from  w^hence  he  obtains 
the  largest  and  best  material  are  the  monuments  them> 
selves.  There  is  no  bronze  or  marble  monument,  no 
wall-painting,  no  vase-picture,  no  mosaic,  no  work  of 
the  ancient  potter's,  stone-cutter's,  or  goldsmith's  art, 


LORENZ   ALMA  TADEMA. 


33 


which  he  has  not  studied  and  placed  in  the  treasury  of 
his  knowledge.  So  at  last  he  could  not  help  feeling  as 
much  at  home  in  ancient  as  in  modern  times.  The 
epoch  of  human  life  when  the  good  and  the  beautiful, 
uniting,  hovered  before  the  struggling  soul  as  the  final 
end  to  be  attained,  was  far  nearer  to  him  and  offered 
much  deeper  satisfaction  to  his  genius  than  his  own 
time,  when  beauty  is  overshadowed  by  utility,  goodness 
by  craft,  and  it  is  considered  as  commendable  to  with- 
draw from  nature  as  in  ancient  times  it  was  held  praise- 
worthy to  dwell  near  to  her  and  live  in  accordance 
with  her  laws.  His  idealistic  spirit  yearned  to  escape 
from  a  society  which,  like  the  blase,  values  only  what 
is  called  real ;  and  if  in  tliis  flight  he  sought  for  kin- 
dred by  whom  he  was  sure  of  being  understood  as 
he  understood,  he  certainly  found  them  in  his  beloved 
ancients."  He  became  one  of  them,  and  in  return 
for  liis  loving  appreciation  of  every  emotion  of  their 
beautiful  and  natural  lives,  they  gave  him  graceful  and 
lofty,  touching  and  bewitching  subjects. 

Tadema  has  often  been  called  the  archaeologist  of 
artists,  and  not  unjustly,  for  he  is  more  familiar  with 

3 


34 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


the  scenes  of  ancient  life  he  depicts  than  many  a  | 
scientist ;  but  his  knowledge  is  as  free  from  the  dust  of  | 
books  as  the  astronomy  of  the  desert  Arab,  who  has  \ 
learned  to  find  his  way  by  the  firmament  over  his  I 
head,  because  the  mute,  eternal  wanderers  of  the  sky  j 
point  out  his  path  through  the  darkness  and  adorn  the  ; 
cool,  gracious  night,  which  is  far  dearer  to  him  than  the  | 
scorching  glare  of  day. 

In  the  same  way,  Tadema  obtains  his  knowledge  of 
ancient  life  because  its  purely  human  civilization  seems  ; 
to  him  infinitely  more  attractive  than  the  sober  present,  ; 
to  which  destiny  sent  him  too  late.    Gay  and  untram-  j 
melled  as  his  ancients  themselves,  he  stands  before  the 
easel,  and  if  the  picture  he  creates,  both  in  detail  and 
as  a  whole,  is  as  thoroughly  and  faultlessly  antique  as  I 
though  he  had  summoned  to  his  aid  a  whole  arsenal  of  | 
learned  paraphernalia,  he  has  done  nothing  except  j 
recall  to  mind  the  costume,  house,  utensils,  garden  j 
and  room  of  a  dear  friend,  to  whose  home  he  has  often  ] 
invited  himself  as  a  guest,  and  where  he  has  looked 
around  him  with  open  eyes.    Antiquity  is  the  home  of 
his  genius,  and  therefore  this  genius  seeks  its  materials  : 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


35 


there.  It  would  be  foreign  to  him  to  seek  subjects 
in  the  present.  Tlie  whole  world  belongs  to  the 
artist,  and  even  time  imposes  no  barriers  upon  him. 
Any  material  which  possesses  a  human  interest  is  avail- 
able, but  to  represent  a  subject  chosen  from  a  period 
and  situations  so  remote,  in  such  a  manner  that  it 
bewitches  and  appeals  to  the  hearts  of  posterity, 
requires  the  one  thing  which  renders  Tadema's  pictures 
of  ancient  life  so  unique  and  inimitable :  thorough 
sympathy  with  the  period  to  be  represented.  He  has 
obtained  an  intellectual  citizenship  among  the  ancients, 
and  it  is  by  virtue  of  having  become  one  of  them  that 
he  can  represent  their  life  with  such  peerless  reality  and 
truth. 

In  1863,  at  the  portal  as  it  were  of  his  road 
through  antiquity,  he  created  his  first  Egyptian  picture. 
In  reply  to  my  query  how  he  had  reached  the  people 
to  whom,  for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  I  have  devoted  the 
best  time  and  strength  of  my  life,  he  said  : 

"  Where  else  should  I  have  commenced  when  I  first 
began  to  make  myself  familiar  with  the  life  of  the 
ancients  ?    The  first  thing  the  child  learns  of  ancient 


36 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


times  leads  it 'to  the  court  of  the  Pharaohs,  to  Goshen 
in  Egypt,  and  when  we  go  back  to  the  source  of  the 
art  and  science  of  the  other  nations  of  antiquity  how 
often  we  reach  your  Egypt !" 

Besides,  there  was  something  in  the  grandeur  and 
peculiarity  of  Egyptian  art,  and  the  original,  orderly, 
and  profoundly  moral  civilization  of  the  Egyptian 
nation,  which  awed,  attracted,  and  fascinated  him. 
Like  all  true  artists  and  lovers  of  art,  his  eyes  were  open 
to  the  beauty  of  the  works,  not  only  of  the  architects, 
but  the  sculptors  of  ancient  Egypt,  and  I  have  seen 
Drake,  Gnauth,  and  other  famous  artists  as  well  as  he, 
gazing  with  admiration  at  the  sculptures  of  tlie  ancient 
kingdom,  and  heard  painters  like  G.  Richter,  Gentz, 
Lenbach,  and  Piloty  speak  of  them.  I  saw  the 
distinguished  archaeologist  Friederichs,  who  died  so 
prematurely,  change  his  opinion  while  standing  before 
these  sculptures  in  the  museum  of  Boulak,  and  from  a 
scorner  become  a  panegyrist  of  Egyptian  art.  Tadema 
speaks  with  the  greatest  warmth  of  the  decorative  art 
of  the  Egyptians,  so  many  beautiful  specimens  of 
which  have  been  preserved  on  the  monuments  along 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


37 


the  Nile.  He  is  ready  to  recognize  beauty  wherever 
he  meets  it  and,  with  his  marked  appreciation  of  what 
is  pecuHar,  even  finds  great  pleasure  in  the  painting  of 
the  Japanese  and  has  used  numerous  Japanese  subjects 
in  the  decoration  of  the  artistic  interior  of  his  house  in 
London. 

Vosmaer  makes  his  Aisma,  —  for  whom  Tadema 
served  as  a  model,  —  in  answer  to  the  question : 
What !  Japanese  ?  Do  you  call  that  beautiful  ?" 
give  a  reply  which  exactly  coincides  with  our  mas- 
ter's opinion  : 

"Beautiful  ?  Admirable  !  Their  flowers  and  animals 
are  masterly.  Look  at  Mrs.  van  Buren's  fan ;  but  look^ 
look  closely,  observe  carefully.  Can  anything  be  more 
graceful,  firmer,  or  more  freely  and  boldly  sketched  ?" 

Then  he  compares  Pompeian  wall-paintings  with 
the  pictures  on  the  Japanese  fan,  and  says  : 

"Now  look  at  these  flowers,  sprays,  and  birds, 
what  firm,  spirited  drawing  !  Sometimes  they  go  still 
farther.  Do  you  remember  in  one  of  the  halls  a 
sparrow  on  a  branch,  gray-green,  downy,  almost 
colorless,  —  it  is  masterly." 


38 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


In  the  same  way  the  firm  drawing  and  spirited 
designs  of  the  exquisite  bas-reliefs  in  the  tombs  of 
the  Pharaonic  era  pleased  him.  With  the  aid  of  his 
vivid  imagination  he  understood  how  to  release  them 
from  the  stone,  infuse  them  with,  the  warm  blood  of 
life,  and  place  them,  animated  and  sentient,  in  new 
relations  of  his  own  invention,  yet  which  bore  the 
stamp  of  the  peculiar  Egyptian  features  that  renders 
it  so  easy  for  antiquarians  to  distinguish  the  Pharaonic 
period  from  all  others.  While  doing  this  he  carefully 
avoided  the  errors  a  strictly  hieratical  canon  compelled 
the  Egyptian  artists  and  sculptors  to  commit,  and 
cautiously  relaxed  what  seems  stiff  and  rigid  in  the 
monuments,  for  he  knew  that  the  Egyptians  were  no 
nation  of  prim  pedants,  but  excitable,  prone  to  joyous 
festal  mirth,  keen  witticism,  and  passionate  grief  Yet, 
when  he  represents  them  under  the  spell  of  their 
priestly  laws,  he  understands  how  to  give  them  so  stiff 
and  solemn  a  bearing  that  one  might  suppose  they  had 
just  stepped  out  of  the  reliefs  on  the  walls  of  temple  or 
tomb.  Still,  even  here,  we  vainly  seek  for  those 
peculiarities  binding  rules  must  have  imposed.  When 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


39 


the  Egyptians  forgot  life's  cares  in  holiday  pleasures, 
they  must  have  appeared  as  he  represented  them  in  his 
first  Egyptian  picture  (1863).  "A  Festival  three 
thousand  years  ago."  Many  an  inhabitant  of  Mem- 
phis has  stood  before  his  house   like  the  dignified 


GROUP  OF  CHESS-PLAYERS. 


man  he  painted  two  years  later,  and  how  true  to 
life,  yet  how  thoroughly  Egyptian  is  the  Group 
of  Chess -Players"  (1865),  the  bold  pencil  sketch 
of  which  I  have  seen  and  sincerely  admired.  To 
behold  a  man  who  usually  dispenses  with  clothing, 


40 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


engaged  in  an  occupation  which  presupposes  a  high 
degree  of  intellectual  development,  is  somewhat  per- 
plexing to  us,  and  because  this  nude  figure  is  doing 
something  wholly  unlike  what  we  are  accustomed  to 
see  in  men  of  his  ilk  the  impression  produced  upon  us 
is  powerful  and  pleasing.  Certain  conventional  ideas 
have  been  formed  concerning  the  character  of  every 
nation.  Just  as  most  persons  consider  the  Frenchman 
frivolous,  they  imagine  the  Egyptian  dull  and  gloomy. 
To  think  of  him  as  light-hearted  indicates  a  better 
knowledge  of  his  life.  Admirably  as  Tadema  under- 
stands how  to  depict  the  Egyptian  at  his  games,  amid 
holiday  pleasures,  and  in  moments  of  joyous  excite- 
ment, his  success  is  even  more  masterly,  as  we  shall 
see,  in  picturing  him  in  the  most  tragical  moments  of 
existence. 

I  have  endeavored  in  what  has  been  said  to  sum 
up  Tadema's  relations  to  the  ancients.  The  viewer  of 
his  paintings  may  be  sure  that  everything  they  show 
him  accurately  represents  a  past  reality,  and  so  far  they 
are  instructive,  but  this  quaUty  is  far  inferior  in  value  to 
the  fact  that  whatever  he  creates  reveals  to  us  a  wealth 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


41 


of  beauty  which  finds  its  way  to  the  soul  capable  of 
appreciating  tlie  beautiful.  They  teach  us  to  see  nature 
and  men  more  clearly  than  is  granted  to  the  eyes  of 
those  whose  brow  the  muse  has  not  kissed ;  we  behold 
in  them  the  fleeting  visions  of  life  retained  in  permanent 
forms  and  flooded  with  that  magical  charm  which, 
when  we  seek  to  express  it  in  words,  we  call,  "poetic." 

In  such  a  manner  he  has  brought  near  to  us  the 
most  varied  aspects  and  emotions  of  Hfe.  The  figures 
he  shows  us  usually  wear  the  garb  of  ancient  times,  yet 
they  are  neither  old  nor  new,  but  purely  human,  and 
when  he  makes  the  child  laugh  or  the  widow  weep,  it 
is  not  only  a  little  Roman  or  a  Frank  princess  who 
laughs  or  mourns,  but  the  careless  child  and  the  woman 
who  has  lost  her  husband,  as  they  must  have  laughed 
or  wept  in  any  age  of  the  world.  He  has  full  posses- 
sion of  that  gift  of  genius  which  represents,  in  a  single 
individual,  the  type  of  a  whole  class,  and  his  Roman 
girl,  bringing  towels  to  the  ladies  who  are  bathing,  is 
not  the  bath-attendant  Lydia  or  Syra,  but  the  "  bal- 
neatrix;"  the  man  reading  his  verses  aloud  is  not 
merely  Venantius  Fortunatus,  but  the  type  of  the 


42 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


author  reading  his. works.  His  purpose  is  always  and 
everywhere  distinctly  intelligible,  and  one  need  not 
be  an  art-critic  to  fully  appreciate  the  charm  of  form 
and  coloring  in  figures  and  scenes  placed  in  the  bright- 
est light,  and  enjoy  with  his  whole  soul  the  elegance 
and  faultless  care  which  distinguish  everything  that 
leaves  this  master's  studio. 

From  boyhood  he  has  known  how  to  fit  up  his 
work-room  in  a  w^ay  that  satisfied  his  sense  of  beauty. 
Even  in  Brussels  his  studio,  51,  Rue  du  Palais, 
obtained  a  certain  degree  of  celebrity  on  account  of  its 
thoroughly  artistic  and  extremely  peculiar  style  of  dec- 
oration. From  this  studio,  besides  the  pictures  already 
mentioned,  came  the  following  creations :  "  Home 
from  Market"  (1865).  The  porter  of  a  Roman  house 
is  opening  the  door  for  his  mistress,  who  is  returning 
from  the  flower-market  with  her  little  daughter  and  her 
slaves.  This  is  a  genre  picture  from  the  heart  of 
Roman  life,  and  the  same  remark  may  be  made  of  its 
successor,  though  Tadema  has  taken  his  subject  from  a 
book,  the  poems  of  Catullus.  He  was  particularly 
charmed  by  this  natural  and  thoughtful  poet,  so  he 


ROPE  JUMPER.  —  (a  crayon  SKETCIt). 


il 

j 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


43 


painted  him  with  his  beloved  Lesbia  (1865)  and 
showed  us  the  same  beauty  in  another  picture,  where 
she  was  grieving  over  her  dead  bird.  In  this  he  fol- 
lowed the  pretty  poem  "  On  the  Sparrow,"  in  which 
the  Roman,  whose  erotic  imagination  often  knows 
neither  curb  nor  rein,  understands  how  to  trifle  so 
charmingly.  A  girl's  eyes,  reddened  by  weeping  for 
the  death  of  a  bird,  sounds  modern,  and  had  not 
Catullus  himself  sung  it,  and  Juvenal  written  to  satiety 
of  another  little  maid. 

Who  wept  until  her  eyes  were  red. 
Over  her  darling  sparrow  dead. 

(Turbavit  cujus  nitidos  extinctus  passer  ocellos). 

our  critical  reformers  who  —  because  they  themselves 
do  not  know  the  ancients  —  brand  as  anachronisms 
every  touch  of  sentiment  in  representations  of  ancient 
life,  would  have  pronounced  this  charming  picture  a 
modern  subject  in  an  antique  mask."  A  Berlin  wise- 
acre—  I  think  it  was  in  the  Tribune  —  actually  de- 
clared it  to  be  a  lamentable  error  to  make  a  Roman 


44 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


woman  Avho  had  no  pity  for  animals  "  weep  over  a 
dead  bird. 

From  the  Brussels  studio  also  came :  Agrippina 
with  the  ashes  of  Germanicus;"  the  "  Entrance  to  a 
Roman  theatre,"  where,  as  the  play-bill  shows,  a  piece 
by  Terence  is  to  be  performed;  the  Preparations  for 
a  Festival  in  a  Pompeian  House,"  a  picture  in  which 
the  artist's  power  and  subtle  sense  of  beauty  is  most 
brilliantly  shoAvn  in  the  girl  weaving  garlands,  as  well 
as  the  charming  painting :     Glaucus  and  Lydia." 

In  1867,  after  having  so  long  drawn  his  material 
from  the  private  life  of  the  ancients,  he  again  turned  to 
history  and  produced  two  historical  paintings :  The 
Praetorians  summoning  Claudius  to  the  imperial  throne 
after  the  murder  of  Caligula,"  (freshly  treated  and  re- 
peated in  1872)  and  Tarquinius  Superbus."  This 
picture  represents  the  arrogant  ruler  striking  off  the 
heads  of  the  poppies  which  have  grown  taller  that  the 
others  in  the  field.  I  have  not  had  the  privilege  of 
seeing  this  painting  myself,  but  competent  art-critics 
give  it  a  specially  high  rank  on  account  of  its  depth 
and  richness  of  coloring  and  the  beautiful  contrast 


DANCING  GIRL.  ~(A  CRAYON  SKKlCll). 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


45 


between  the  outside  wall  lying  deep  in  shadow  and 
tlie  field  of  poppies  glittering  in  the  sunlight. 

In  1867,  he  also  created  the  "  Egyptians  Lament- 
ing the  Dead."  In  one  of  the  small  side  temples 
which  the  inscriptions  describe  as  the  birth-houses  of 
the  divinity,  that  is  the  place  where  Isis  bore  the 
young  Horus,  the  mummy  of  the  departed  one  lies 
upon  a  bier,  beside  whicli  stands  the  sarcophagus  that 
is  to  receive  it.  The  place  is  subtly  chosen,  for  the 
divinity  said  to  be  born  here  is  Horus,  that  is,  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  eternal  renewal  of  nature,  and  like  the 
young  god  the  soul  of  the  dead,  by  another  birth,  is  to 
behold  the  light  of  a  new  world.  The  widow,  deeply 
absorbed  in  her  grief,  kneels  at  the  feet  of  the  mummy, 
while  priests  chant  lamentations  to  the  notes  of  lutes 
and  sistrums.  The  thick  fan-shaped  leaves  of  the 
palm-trees  in  the  temple-groves  peer  through  the  open- 
ings between  the  pillars,  bending  to  bestow  shade  and 
blessing  upon  the  scene  of  sorrow  and  death.  How 
genuinely  Egyptian  is  every  architectural  form,  every 
instrument,  every  countenance,  yet  how  profoundly 
and  thoroughly  human  is  this  magnificent  work  of  art ! 


46 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


At  the  same  time  as  the  "  Egyptians  Lamenting 
the  Dead "  or  shortly  after  its  completion,  Tadema, 
perhaps  to  shake  off  the  anguish  to  which  he  had  given 
such  vivid  expression,  painted  the  Siesta  (1868)  a 
superb  picture  of  Greek  life,  full  of  the  most  bUssful 
repose. 

In  the  cool  shade  rest  thee  now ! 
Fair,  Bathyllus,  is  this  tree ; 
Through  its  foliage  to  and  fro 
Zephyr  wanders  dreamily. 

In  this  painting  —  of  life-size  —  a  youth  and  an  old 
man,  like  Anacreon  and  his  favorite,  have  sat  down 
together  in  friendly  companionship.  Surrounded  by 
an  atmosphere  of  sweet  repose,  they  listen,  under  the 
protection  of  Aphrodite,  the  bestower  of  happiness, 
amid  flowers,  wine,  and  fruit,  to  the  dulcet  tones  of  a 
flute. 

Tadema's  next  picture  also  transports  us  to  Greece, 
and  this  time  to  Athens  in  the  period  of  its  most  bril- 
liant development.    It  shows  us  Phidias  himself,  after 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


47 


he  has  completed  the  frieze  for  the  Parthenon,  the 
noblest  of  all  works  of  sculpture.  The  procession  at 
the  Panathenaic  festival,  with  its  handsome  youths, 
steeds,  and  riders,  is  finished.  A  light  barrier  separates 
the  spectators  on  the  scaffold  from  the  creating  artist. 
The  bearded  man  in  the  centre  behind  this  barrier,  with 
the  roll  in  his  right  hand,  is  the  master  himself,  who 
with  modest  confidence  has  invited  the  principal  per- 
sonages in  Athens  to  view  his  completed  work.  Who 
could  the  youth  at  the  left,  standing  among  the  spec- 
tators beyond  the  barrier,  be  save  Alcibiades  ?  The 
dignified  man  opposite  Phidias  who,  absorbed  in 
contemplation,  grasps  the  rope  with  both  hands, 
must  be  Pericles,  the  beautiful  woman  on  his  right, 
Aspasia.  A  remarkable  painting !  The  artist  under- 
stands how  to  reproduce  the  marble  the  sculptor  uses, 
and  the  most  marvellous  creation  of  sculpture  is  here 
paid  the  higliest  honor  in  a  masterpiece  of  the  art  of 
coloring. 

As  a  bright  companion-piece  to  this  grave  picture 
appeared  the  charming  "  Flower-Girl,"  who,  with  the 
gay  children  of  the  spring  she  offers  for  sale,  will 


48 


LORENZ   ALMA  TADEMA. 


probably  remind  every  one  of  Dionysius'  graceful  epi- 
gram :  * 

Roses  are  blooming  on  thy  cheek,  with  roses  thy  basket  is 
laden, 

Which  dost  thou  sell  ?  The  flowers  ?  Thyself?  Or  both,  my 
pretty  maiden  ?" 

The  Boudoir  "  and  "  The  Embarkation  "  are  sub- 
jects drawn  from  the  private  Hfe  of  Roman  citizens. 
The  latter  picture,  a  little  masterpiece  of  the  most  deli- 
cate effects  of  color,  I  have  admired  in  the  house  of 
the  famous  Dutch  marine-artist  Mesdag,  a  home  rich 
in  the  most  exquisite  pearls  of  the  art  of  painting.  In 
the  Sick-Chamber "  and  another  superb  picture, 
which  we  might  call  "  Before  Churcliing  " —  it  might 
have  served  our  ovv^n  Claus  Meyer  as  a  model  —  he 
has  been  pleased  to  join  the  ranks  of  the  old  Nether- 
land  painters. 

In  1870,  he  completed  the  charming  picture  "  Les- 
bia's  House  "  (the  poet's  beautiful  love  is  listening  to 

*  Six  years  before,  this  same  epigram  suggested  to  the  writer  of 
this  essay  a  scene  in  "  An  Egyptian  Princess."    Vol.  II.  page  197, 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


49 


Catullus*  verses).  Then  our  master  began  his  superb 
"  Vintage  Festival."  This  composition  —  whose  length 
would  seem  to  indicate  that  it  was  intended  for  the 
decoration  of  a  frieze —  is  so  well  known  in  Germany, 
through  Blanchard's  engraving,  that  I  need  enter  into 
no  minute  description.  The  brightest  light  floods  the 
temple  which  the  vine-dressers  have  entered  to  give 
thanks  for  the  blessings  of  the  autumn.  Before  them, 
with  a  light,  dancing  step,  moves  the  beautiful  young 
priestess  of  the  god,  with  vine-leaves  twined  amid  her 
waving  golden  hair,  and  in  her  hand  the  torch  with 
which  slie  is  to  light  the  fire  upon  the  altar  of  the 
divinity. 

How  graceful  are  the  movements  of  the  girls  who 
accompany  with  the  music  of  the  double  flute  and 
tambourine  the  singing  of  tlie  muUitude  in  the  hall 
which  opens  in  tlie  background;  how  vigorous  are  the 
men  who  bear  in  their  strong  arms  the  huge  jars  con- 
taining the  gift  of  the  god.  Quietly,  yet  deeply  pene- 
trated by  a  devout  feeling  of  gratitude,  the  procession 
moves  forward,  and  the  most  genuine  holiday  mood 
cheerily  and  reverently  pervades  temple  and  throng. 

4 


50 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


The  marble  gleams,  the  bronze  shimmers  in  marvellous 
hues,  and  in  the  clear  radiant  light  of  this  festal  day 
every  face,  every  utensil,  every  ornament,  every  seam 
between  the  stones  has  its  full  and  complete  value. 
Whoever  remembers  this  picture  feels  as  if  he  had  been 
permitted  to  share  as  a  guest  in  the  holiday  rejoicing 
of  the  Hellenes. 

This  rare  work  of  art  was  not  finished  in  Brussels, 
but  in  London.  Tadema  had  lost  his  wife  and  a  son 
in  the  Belgian  capital,  and  had  learned  by  experience 
that,  though  the  Xetherlanders  knew  how  to  value  and 
praise  his  art,  they  were  by  no  means  inclined  to  make 
even  the  smallest  sacrifice  for  the  artist.  It  is  scarcely 
credible,  yet  in  Graaff's  biography  of  Tadema  the 
statement  may  be  read  in  italics,  as  an  undeniable  fact, 
that  from  1856  to  1880  —  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury —  our  master  did  not  earn  in  his  wealthy  native 
country,  Holland,  more  than  a  thousand  florins, 
though  a  painting  he  disposed  of  in  1867  for  six  hun- 
dred florins  was  resold  for  thirteen  thousand.  Even 
after  he  had  reached  the  pinnacle  of  fame,  neither  the 
king,  the  government,  nor  any  art  institute  in  his 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


51 


native  land  gave  him  the  smallest  order.  Nor  was  any 
attempt  made  to  obtain  one  of  his  masterpieces, 
though  in  England  and  America  his  pictures  were 
worth  their  weigiit  in  gold,  and  the  people  of  France, 
Germany,  and  Belgium  coveted  a  sight  of  them, 
loaded  them  and  their  creator  with  the  most  dis- 
tinguished honors,  and  more  than  once  purchased 
them  at  a  high,  nay  the  highest  price. 

Even  an  artist  wants  a  livelihood,  and  England, 
which  not  only  knew  how  to  value  his  paintings  but 
was  disposed  to  obtain  the  works  of  his  genius  at  a 
suitable  price,  attracted  him  with  powerful  magnets. 
The  English  character  pleased  the  Frieselander,  whose 
race  is  akin  to  the  Anglo-Saxons;  many  influential 
friends  and  fellow-artists  urged  him  to  go  to  Great 
Britain,  and  finally  his  heart  also  drew  him  thither,  for 
one  of  the  fairest  daughters  of  Albion,  Miss  Laura 
Epps,  herself  a  talented  artist,  returned  his  love  and  in 
187 1  gave  him  her  hand  in  marriage. 

So,  with  his  first  wife's  two  pretty  little  daughters 
(Laurence  and  Anne)  he  moved  to  London  and  there 
established   a  second   home.    The   first  picture  he 


52 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


finished  in  it  was  the  Vintage  Festival "  commenced 
in  Brussels,  a  description  of  which  has  been  given 
above. 

The  beauty  and  oddity  of  the  decorations  and  fur- 
niture of  the  studio  where  he  gave  it  the  last  stroke  of 
the  brush,  and  the  rooms  adjoining  this  studio  in 
Townshend  House,  Regent's  Park,  the  part  of  London 
which  least  lacks  the  light  and  open  air  the  artist 
needs,  must  soon  become  famed  far  beyond  the  bor- 
ders of  England.  True,  a  few  years  after  he  had 
crossed  the  "  Salve "  on  the  threshold  of  this  new 
home  (1874)  a  large  portion  of  the  rare  articles  and 
pieces  of  furniture  in  it  were  destroyed  by  a  terrible 
explosion  at  the  neighboring  North  Gate,  but  he  soon 
repaired  the  damage  and  made  Townshend  House 
what  it  is  now:  tlie  delight  of  all  lovers  of  art,  beauty, 
comfort,  and  a  luxury  that  pleases  the  eye,  offers  it  the 
most  charming  and  varied  impressions,  and  stirs  the 
mind  to  question  and  investigate.  Its  creation  would 
be  impossible  even  for  the  millions  of  a  Croesus, 
though  he  should  obtain  the  aid  of  a  great  artist, 
because  the  latter  does  not  evoke  for  a  stranger  all  the 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


53 


ideas  of  comfort  and  beauty  that  dwell  in  his  mind  ] 
and  nothing  but  living  in  his  own  home  will  suggest 
to  his  genius  such  novel  and  happy  ideas  for  supplying 
what  is  deficient  as  well  as  perfecting  v/hat  was  already 
beautiful  and  charming. 

The  lower  story  of  the  Tadema-home  resembles  ex- 
ternally a  Pompeian  house,  but  its  proportions  are  so 
noble  that  this  does  not  immediately  strike  the  eye. 
The  knocker  —  a  bronze  antique  mask  —  falls  upon 
the  steel  plate  on  the  massive  outer  door,  and  we  cross 
the  hospitable  Salve  "  of  the  threshold.  The  lower 
story  is  the  special  abode  of  the  mistress  of  the  house. 
Here  is  her  studio,  a  pleasant  room,  in  whose  simple, 
but  comfortable  and  graceful  furniture  and  ornaments, 
many  Japanese  designs  are  blended.  The  piano  in 
daily  use  is  adorned  with  exquisite  decorations  by  the 
hand  of  Tadema  and  his  wife,  and  on  one  wall  of  this 
cosy  room  the  master's  superb  picture  The  Death  of 
the  First-born,"  of  which  I  have  yet  to  write,  reminds 
us  of  the  seriousness  of  life. 

From  this  studio,  where  many  a  charming  picture 
by  Mrs.  Laura  Tadema  was  finished,  we  pass  through 


54 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


a  peculiar  apartment,  hung  with  Spanish  leather,  into 
a  cheerful  reception-room  that  pleasantly  recalls  the 
viridarium  of  Roman  houses.  The  dining-room, 
exquisitely  adorned  with  flower  and  fruit  pieces  in 
water-colors,  adjoins  this  apartment,  which  after  a  meal 
is  inimitably  inviting  for  rest,  reverie,  or  conversation. 
Luxuriant  leaf-plants,  in  tubs  of  a  singularly  artistic 
shape,  transport  us  in  imagination  into  the  open  air,  an 
illusion  heightened  by  a  jet  of  water  flowing  from  an 
antique  mask  into  a  marble  basin.  Its  low  plashing 
increases  the  dreamy  mood,  as  night  and  day  it  rises  to 
Dalou's  bust  of  the  master,  which  stands  above  the 
fountain.  A  hammock  invites  sleep  and  Chinese 
lanterns,  suspended  from  the  ceiling,  diffuse  a  varying 
but  pleasant  light  through  this  peaceful  green  nook. 
The  lower  story  also  contains  the  library.  Here 
books  adorn  the  walls;  but  in  the  Gothic  table, 
made  after  Tadema's  own  design,  art  again  asserts 
itself. 

The  staircase  leading  to  the  upper  story  is  plain. 
An  ornamental  border,  in  which  a  pomegranate  design 
appears,  runs  along  the  dark-brown  walls;  but  there  is 


J 


i 

i 
i 


i 


LOREiNZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


55 


little  color  to  be  seen  here,  for  the  ascending  visitor 
beholds  a  row  of  pliotographs  of  the  master's  paintings. 
Above  is  the  workshop  from  whicli  these  creations 
came,  are  still  coming,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  may  long 
continue  to  come,  unless  Tadema  should  find  himself 
obliged  (owing  to  the  sinking  of  the  ground)  to 
exchange  his  present  home  for  a  new  and  per- 
haps still  more  beautiful  one.  It  is  a  handsome, 
well-lighted,  square  apartment.  At  the  entrance,  on 
the  right,  stands  a  statue  of  the  master,  whose  own 
hand  has  adorned  the  walls  with  exquisitely-chosen 
Pompeian  designs  in  the  subdued  tints  the  untrained 
eye  often  pronounces  faded,  but  which  could  not  have 
been  different  in  ancient  days,  because  —  Tadema*s 
own  remark  —  the  mosaics,  where  the  hues  of  the 
stones  are  perpetual,  are  colored  with  the  same  wise 
moderation.  Every  ornament  here  is  Greek,  and  in 
the  chests  behind  the  curtains  are  kept  the  costumes 
and  archaeological  works  the  artist  needs  for  his 
models  and  for  occasional  reference.  Pieces  of  furni- 
ture of  antique  design  serve  to  complete  the  studio, 
where  an  artist  of  ancient  Pompeii  would  undoubtedly 


56 


LORENZ  ALxMA  TADEMA. 


feel  at  home.  This  scene  of  the  most  untiring  industry 
rarely  lacks  plants  in  bloom. 

Once  Tadema  was  fascinated  for  weeks  by  a  large 
oleander  which  he  had  taken  with  him  from  Brussels 
to  London,  where  for  the  first  time  it  covered  itself 
with  blossoms.  He  had  no  peace  until  he  had  suc- 
ceeded in  fixing  upon  canvas  the  wealth  and  delicacy 
of  its  luxuriant  rose-hued  flowers  —  and  how  thor- 
oughly he  knows  the  charm  of  color  and  the  life  of  the 
anemones  he  learned  to  love  upon  the  Riviera,  and 
which  are  frequently  sent  to  him  from  there  by  friends, 
how  he  studies,  enjoys,  and  reproduces  the  roses, 
poppies,  and  other  bright-hued  children  of  Flora ! 
There  they  stand,  so  true  to  nature  that  one  feels 
tempted  to  please  the  sense  of  touch  with  their  velvety 
softness,  yet  looking  more  closely  one  discovers  that 
their  perfect  resemblance  to  the  originals  is  by  no 
means  due  to  a  wearisome  number  of  strokes  of  the 
brush.  Tadema  himself  has  called  his  friends'  atten- 
tion to  the  apparent  ease  with  which  they  were 
produced.  A  happy  stroke  transfers  them  from  the 
retina  of  the  eye,  which  so  faithfully  retains  everything 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


57 


the  artist's  glance  perceives,  to  the  wall  or  canvas,  and 
what  has  once  been  accurately  seen  and^  noted  may- 
dispense  with  labored  and  painstaking  execution. 

A  few  steps  lead  from  the  studio  to  several  com- 
municating rooms  of  moderate  size.  In  the  first  the 
wainscoted  ceiling  is  supported  by  marble  Ionic 
columns,  Oriental  rugs  of  rare  beauty  cover  the  inlaid 
floor,  and  cushions  of  exquisite  colors  lie  heaped  on 
chairs  and  divans.  None  of  these  rooms  are  separated 
from  each  other  by  doors;  arched  entrances  divide 
them,  and  in  the  doorway  of  the  i)illared  chamber 
hangs  a  wonderful  old  curtain  —  well-nigh  matchless  — 
brought  from  the  palace  of  a  Venetian  noble.  In  the 
next  apartment,  the  Gold  Room,  the  light  falls  through 
panes  of  Mexican  onyx,  which  subdues  it  sufficiently  to 
lend  this  rare  chamber  the  magical,  yet  not  dazzling 
brilliancy  Tadema  wished  to  give  it.  Walls  and  ceiling 
are  entirely  covered  with  gilding,  and  it  is  difficult  to 
imagine  the  effect  produced  by  this  unusual  decoration 
when  illumined  with  sunlight  tempered  by  the  onyx 
panes.  This  remarkable  style  of  ornament  is  due  to  a 
lucky  accident.    Tadema  at  first  had  only  tried  what 


1 


58  LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 

I 

the  effect  would  be  if  he  used  gold,  the  natural  frame  1 
of  pictures,  as  a  background  for  the  paintings  to  be  j 
hung  here;  but  when  he  found  how  admirably  the  j 
gilded  walls  looked,  he  put  up  no  pictures,  but  created  i 
the  Gold  Room  and  furnished  it  with  equal  elegance 
and   taste.     Tliat  the  impression  produced  is  very 
brilliant  is  a  matter  of  course,  and  Meynet's  opinion  ; 
that  it  is  exactly  in  harmony  widi  the  taste  of  the  i 
ancients,  especially  that   of  Later   Rome   and   the  : 
Byzantines,  is  perfectly  correct.     Nero,  with  all  his  \ 
crimes  a  thorough  artist  in  his  nature,  wanted  to  live  in 
a  golden  palace;  why  should  not  the  painter  of  ancient 

) 

Rome  try  a  golden  room  ?  Over  the  wide  entrance  j 
to  this  unique  apartment,  on  each  side  of  a  beautiful  { 
rosette,  is  a  semicircular  arch,  and  these  two  arches,  j 
with  the  beam  on  which  they  rest,  form  two  niches,  j 
in  which  rare  antique  vases  and  other  choice  specimens  j 
of  ancient  pottery  are  arranged  with  picturesque  \ 
abundance  in  apparent  disorder.  From  them  an  ample  I 
curtain  of  Chinese  silk,  in  shades  of  yellow,  blue,  and 
gold,  hangs  to  the  floor,  which  is  made  of  ebony  and 
maple.    Along  the  wall  runs  a  socle  five  feet  high  of  ] 


LOKENZ  ALMA  TADLMA. 


59 


Byzantine  design,  above  whose  beautiful  cornice  is  an 
exquisite  miniature  copy  in  ivory,  upon  an  ebony 
background,  of  Phidias*  famous  procession  of  mounted 
men  from  the  frieze  of  the  Parthenon.  With  this 
exception  the  eye,  wherever  it  turns,  sees  nothing  but 
glittering  gold;  and  the  few  dark  pieces  of  furniture, 
as  well  as  the  large  silver  mixing-vessel  (a  copy  of  the 
superb  one  found  at  Hildesheim)  the  bright-hued 
curtain,  and  the  strange  specimens  of  foreign  art  in 
the  dark  niches  often  glow  with  magical  reflected 
lights. 

In  this  room  also  stands  the  Tadema  grand  piano, 
which  has  attained  a  certain  renown  and  scarcely  has 
its  equal  in  the  world,  not  only  on  account  of  the  rare 
beauty  of  its  Byzantine  form,  the  costly  materials  from 
which  it  is  manufactured,  and  the  ornamental  band 
with  which  Tadema  has  adorned  it,  but  because  it 
contains  a  very  rare  collection  of  autographs.  The 
inner  side  of  the  movable  lid  is  partly  covered  with  fine 
parchment,  on  which  all  the  virtuosos  who  have  played 
on  the  instrument  have  written  their  names,  and  it  is 
rare  that  any  noted  musician  leaves  London  without 


6o 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


having  visited  Townshend  House  and  played  before  a 
larger  or  smaller  circle.  This  Gold  Room  adjoins  a 
charming  little  apartment,  fitted  up  in  every  detail  like 
an  old-fashioned  room  in  Holland.  This  is  lighted  by 
an  exquisite  Renaissance  window,  and  is  the  scene  of 
our  friend's  happy  family  life  and  earnest  labor.  He 
has  so  arranged  it  that  his  artistic  eye  can  find  pleasure 
wherever  he  turns.  What  would  exert  a  disturbing 
influence  upon  the  scientist  is  a  necessity  to  the  artist, 
and  where  luxury  clothes  itself  in  genuine  artistic 
forms  —  as  it  does  here  —  it  should  be  greeted  as  a 
living  expression  of  a  self-sacrificing  appreciation  of 
beauty. 

Vosmaer  justly  remarks  that  since  Tadema's  re- 
moval to  London,  or  rather  since  his  marriage  to  a 
daughter  of  Albion,  his  female  figures  have  been  differ- 
ent from  those  of  former  days.  They  obtain  more 
robust  proportions,  a  loftier,  nobler  stature,  and  the 
golden  hair  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  often  gleams  from 
his  pictures.  This  hair  also  adorns  the  graceful  head 
of  his  wife,  who  deserves  mention  as  a  type  of  the 
aristocratic  beauty  of  English  women. 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


6l 


The  first  four  pictures  commenced  and  finished 
in  Townshend  House  after  wedding  this  rare  life- 
companion  were  "  Pottery  "  the  "  Fete  intime,'*  "  Re- 
proaches "  and  Cherries." 

The  last  picture  represents  a  beautiful  woman 
reclining  on  a  tiger-skin  and,  in  restful  ease,  feasting 
her  eyes  on  the  gUttering  cherries  she  is  about  to  eat. 
It  is  nearly  life-size,  and  he  gave  it  to  the  cercle  artis- 
tique  in  Holland,  of  which  he  had  long  been  a  member. 
"  Caligula's  Murder  "  was  again  painted  here,  and  then 
followed  "  Greek  Wine,"  a  bright  picture  from  which 
seems  to  echo  the  lines  of  Rufinus: 

*•  Oh,  Prodice,  let  us,  when  we  bathe,  with  garlands  our 
temples  entwine, 

The  while,  from  the  beaker  gigantic,  gaily  drink  we  the 
foaming  new  wine.*' 

How  many  similar  verses  Tadema  might  have  had 
in  mind.  One  of  the  most  beautiful  —  sung  by 
Meleagros  —  has  a  flavor  of  modern  sentiment  and 
runs  as  follows : 


62 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


Mix,  when  thou  dost  fill  the  goblet, 
With  Heliodora's  name  the  draught, 
And  on  my  brow  the  chaplet  set 
She  gave  me  as  the  wine  I  quaffed! 
With  tears  its  roses  seem  bedewed, 
As  though  the  garland  fair  doth  weep, 
Because  within  mine  arms  I  could 
Not  Heliodora's  fair  form  keep." 

The  rose  feels  pity ;  flowers  suggest  transitoriness : 

"  Like  this  garland  of  flowers,"  sings  a  poet  from 
the  anthology  of  his  Rhodoclea,  "  thou  wilt  bloom  and 
fade."  This  fate  will  also  be  shared  by  the  young 
Greek  wife,  who  in  the  painting  *'The  last  Roses"  is 
laying  the  late  roses  of  autumn,  as  a  pious  offering,  on 
the  marble  altar. 

I  have  been  obliged  to  subdue  my  tone  and  suggest 
by  the  last  roses  of  the  year  and  the  next  picture,  "  The 
Widow,"  thoughts  of  winter  and  the  transitoriness  of 
earthly  happiness,  because  I  knew  that  I  was  about  to 
bring  before  the  reader's  notice  a  painting  which,  in 
my  opinion,  is  the  most  touching  ever  created  by  an 
artist's  genius.    Tadema  has  called  this  remarkable 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


63 


work  "  The  last  Plague."  The  destroying  angel  has 
entered  the  houses  and  palaces  of  Egypt.  His  terrible 
office  is  to  slay  every  first-born,  and  the  inexorable 
messenger  of  God  has  knocked  at  the  heart  of  the 
young  heir  to  the  throne  and  forced  it  to  stop  beating. 
The  room  to  whicli  the  artist  leads  us  is  perhaps  a  lofty 
one,  but  he  has  cut  the  canvas  just  above  the  heads  of 
the  pictured  forms  and  we  feel  distressed  and  scarcely 
able  to  breathe  in  this  narrow  space,  where  sickness 
and  sorrow  have  come,  and  the  odor  of  incense,  spices, 
and  flowers  oppresses  the  lungs.  On  the  king^s  lap 
lies  the  heir  slain  by  the  pestilence,  a  beautiful  boy, 
whose  head  rests  on  the  knee  of  his  mother,  who,  over- 
whelmed by  passionate  grief,  presses  her  cheek  upon 
her  darling's  motionless  breast,  stirred  by  no  breath,  no 
heart-throb.  The  dead  child's  arm  hangs  loosely 
down,  the  rigid  fingers,  as  if  seeking  help,  clutch  the 
hem  of  his  father's  robe.  A  bandage  still  surrounds 
the  brow  which  a  short  time  ago  burned  with  such 
feverish  heat  and  ached  with  such  unbearable  pain. 
The  father  sits  as  though  petrified.  With  his  left  hand 
he  supports  the  young  form,  his  right  holds  a  flower ; 


64 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


the  face  is  turned  fully  towards  us.  The  fate  that  has 
overtaken  him  is  stronger  than  he.  Shall  he  pray  ? 
Shall  he  defy  it  ?  Shall  he  weep  and  join  in  his  wife's 
loud  lamentations  ?  All  these  questions  can  be  read  in 
the  features  of  this  man,  who  holds  himself  so  erect 
outwardly  because  he  has  lost  his  mental  poise  and 
would  give  way  if  he  did  not  conquer  himself.  Beside 
him  crouches  the  physician,  the  living  embodiment  of 
the  naophoros  every  museum  shows.  He  has  done  his 
best,  and  ere  being  summoned  to  convey  the  body  to 
the  embalmers,  has  time  to  think  and  ponder  over 
the  insufficiency  of  his  skill.  Through  the  doorway  is 
seen  the  wailing  multitude,  and  beyond  them,  Moses 
and  Aaron  awaiting  with  proud  composure  the 
monarch's  decision.  Funeral  music  is  echoing  through 
the  chamber  of  death.  The  nobles  of  the  land  have 
thrown  themselves  before  the  king,  perhaps  to  implore 
him  to  avert  future  horrors  and  comply  with  the 
demand  of  the  terrible  magicians  outside  :  but  he  heeds 
them  as  little  as  though  they  were  part  of  the  stone 
floor. 

It  is  this  which  stamps  the  picture  with  terrible 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


65 


earnestness  upon  every  spectator's  soul.  When  I  sent 
it  to  Gnauth  (who  died  so  prematurely)  the  director 
of  the  artistic  portion  of  my  work  Egypt  in  Picture 
and  Word,"  he  wrote :  This  picture  produces  the 
impression  of  a  divine  hymn. 

To  the  Egyptologist  it  tells  much  that  the  untu- 
tored eye  does  not  perceive.  This  is  a  resurrection  of 
real  Egyptian  life!  There  is  nothing  which  did  not 
belong  to  the  days  of  the  Pharaohs.  The  halls  of  the 
palace  of  Rameses  III.  were  like  this  wall,  this  china 
dish  covered  with  flowers  came  from  Tell  el-Jehudije, 
the  physician  wears  the  little  cap  of  the  Egyptian 
^sculapius,  Imhotep ;  the  portable  medicine-chest, 
every  jar,  the  mode  of  arranging  the  women's  hair, 
the  head-gear  of  the  men  :  everything  is  thoroughly 
accurate;  and  as  if  the  master  had  foreseen  what  was 
not  discovered  until  ten  years  after  the  completion  of 
his  work,  he  laid  at  the  feet  of  the  corpse  a  garland  of 
flowers  deceptively  like  those  which  have  been  found  in 
the  royal  coflins  at  Der  el-Bachri.  Had  Tadema  finished 
nothing  except  this  picture,  he  would  still  be  entitled  to 

number  himself  among  the  foremost  artists  of  his  age. 

5 


66 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


This  painting  made  a  great  sensation,  not  only  in 
London,  but  in  Paris  and  Berlin,  where  it  adorned  the 
autumn  art-exhibition  of  the  Academy.  Henceforth 
every  lover  of  art  in  the  capital,  whenever  a  new 
exhibition  was  opened,  looked  at  once  for  Tadema's 
pictures.  In  Munich,  also,  his  genius  was  joyously 
recognized,  and  as  he  loves  Germany  and  rarely 
neglects  to  have  his  larger  works  exhibited  there,  he 
soon  gained  citizenship  among  German  artists.  Like 
his  master,  Van  Leys,  he  has  often  been  in  Germany, 
and  with  the  linguistic  talent  he  possesses  to  a  peculiar 
degree,  has  learned  to  speak  German  so  well  that  I  was 
often  surprised  by  the  graceful,  unusual,  and  thoroughly 
German  phraseology  he  uses  in  fluent  conversation. 
Of  course  he  speaks  Italian,  while  Frenchmen  and 
Englishmen,  when  talking  with  him,  take  him  for  a  fel- 
low-countryman. 

In  1874,  he  painted  "  Joseph,  Overseer  of  the 
Granaries,"  a  picture  which,  in  regard  to  coloring, 
ranks  among  his  best  works.  A  copy  may  be  found  in 
my  ^'  Egypt,"  but  it  seems  to  me  that  in  this  painting 
he  has  allowed  himself,  in  depicting  the  figure  of  the 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


67 


Pharaoli  on  the  throne,  to  be  too  much  influenced  by 
the  mode  of  execution  of  the  Egyptian  artists,  who 
were  trammelled  by  their  canons.  On  the  other  hand 
a  magnificent  and  thoroughly  real  figure  is  represented 
in  the  young  Jewish  Minister  of  Finance,  Joseph,  read- 
ing aloud  to  his  master  from  a  papyrus-roll  the  new 
measures  of  economy  he  has  adopted. 

In  the  same  year  (1874)  he  returned  to  Rome,  and 
painted  first  a  Roman  lady  amusing  herself  by  fishing 
in  the  pond  adjoining  her  villa,  and  afterwards  the  two 
superb  pictures  respectively  representing  a  gallery  of 
sculpture  and  a  gallery  of  paintings  in  ancient  Rome, 
These  works  won  him  in  Berlin  the  great  gold  medal, 
cast  into  the  shade  most  of  the  otlier  paintings  in  the 
exhibition  of  1874,  formed  the  daily  topic  of  conversa- 
tion in  all  art-circles,  and  paved  tlie  way  to  the  highest 
external  distinction  a  government  has  to  bestow,  and 
whicli  has  been  obtained  by  few  of  his  peers,  the 
Prussian  Order  of  Merit,  received  in  1881.  They 
have  become  very  well  known  through  Blanchard's 
engravings,  and  Tadema  afterwards  used  the  same 
material  again  in  an  entirely  different  way. 


68 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


The  finest  of  these  pictures  have  been  accessible  to 
few  persons,  as  they  are  in  the  possession  of  the  rich 
art  pubhsher  Gambard  of  Nice,  who  reluctantly  opens 
to  strangers  his  bewitchingly-located  villa  Les  Palmiers 
—  a  true  fairy  palace,  surrounded  by  the  loveliest 
pleasure  gardens  and  filled  with  superb  paintings  and 
statuary.  Botli  are  equally  admirable  in  drawing, 
coloring,  fidelity  to  nature,  and  archaeological  accuracy. 
In  the  Gambard  ^'Sculpture  Gallery"  the  centre  of  the 
picture  is  a  superb  vase  of  some  valuable  dark  stone, 
which  an  elderly  servant  (the  crescent-shaped  ornament 
on  his  neck  marks  him  as  a  slave)  is  turning  on  its 
pedestal  to  display  it  better  to  the  aristocratic  family 
who  are  admiring,  and  perhaps  intend  to  purchase  it. 
The  marble  tablet  on  the  wall,  and  all  the  statues  that 
form  the  gallery  or  collection  are  masterpieces  of  the 
art  of  imitation,  and  how  true  to  life,  how  speaking, 
how  exquisitely  grouped  are  the  persons  who  are  direc- 
ting their  attention  to  the  vase.  The  rich  gentleman, 
who  has  sat  down  with  his  wife  and  is  pointing  out  to 
her  what  he  particularly  admires  in  the  work  of  art 
now  being  displayed;  the  children,  who  have  advanced 


SCULl'TURE  GALLERY  IN  ANCIENT  ROME. 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


69 


close  to  it  and  would  like  to  touch  it,  as  though  it  were 
already  their  property;  the  beautiful  young  woman 
behind  them,  perhaps  their  motlier's  sister,  who.  is 
restraining  them  and  yet  gazing  at  the  vase  —  all  this 
is  taken  from  the  life  and  would  be  the  same  at  the 
present  day  as  in  ancient  Rome.  In  the  second  gallery 
the  statue  of  Sopliocles  (Lateran)  is  the  central  point, 
and  the  art-conversation  being  carried  on  about  it  by  a 
patrician  of  dignified  bearing,  a  vivacious  critic,  and  a 
Roman  lady  is  so  well  depicted  that  one  fancies  one 
might  follow  it. 

In  the  "  Picture  Gallery  "  the  effects  of  light  and 
color  are  really  bewitching.  Who  can  forget  the  bright 
sunsliine  streaming  into  the  spacious  hall  through  the 
window  just  below  the  ceiling?  Yet  the  spectator  re- 
members no  less  clearly  the  young  artist  who  sits  com- 
pletely absorbed  before  the  picture  on  the  easel,  as  well 
as  the  aristocratic  Roman  lady  on  the  divan,  who  is  look- 
ing at  it  over  his  shoulder  and  holding  a  manuscript  in 
her  hand.  She  is  less  in  earnest  than  the  youth,  and  the 
papyrus  might  contain  a  description  of  the  object  repre- 
sented, or  simply  the  ephemeris^  with  the  news  of  the  day. 


70 


LORENZ    ALMA  TADEMA. 


In  the  second  representation  of  the  same  material 
special  interest  is  aroused  by  the  keen-eyed  connoisseur 
before  the  picture,  the  plump  beauty  on  the  cushions, 
who  is  paying  more  heed  to  the  painting  than  to  her 
young  companion's  explanations,  and  the  clever  face  of 
the  critic.  This  man  understands  his  business,  yet  he 
is  not  seeking  something  to  praise,  but  something  to 
condemn. 

These  two  pictures  possess  a  powerful  spell  of 
attraction.  Each  new  study  of  their  rich  details 
bestows  a  fresh  pleasure.  We  gaze  with  the  specta- 
tors, are  delighted  with  what  these  galleries  contain, 
and  their  visitors  are  no  less  interesting  than  the  gal- 
leries themselves;  for  each  one  is  a  real  person  whose 
face  is  worth  learning  to  know,  and  with  whom  we 
should  be  glad  to  enter  into  conversation.  I  dislike  to 
parade  the  technical  catch-words  of  the  art-critics  :  but 
it  may  be  said  that  an  equally  harmonious  melody  of 
colors  has  echoed  from  few  pictures. 

In  1875,  Tadema  again  went  to  Italy,  and  while 
there  and  after  his  return  to  England,  he  completed 
the  "  Cleopatra "  and  the  three  pictures  to  which  he 


PICTURE  GALLERY  IN  ANCIENT  ROME. 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


71 


gave  the  name  "  The  tragedy  of  an  estimable  woman." 
This  color-trilogy  refers  to  the  unfortunate  Galsvintha, 
whose  sad  fate,  little  as  Gregory  of  Tours  can  tell  of 
her,  seems  to  have  won  Tadema's  tender  interest. 
They  represent :  Galsvintha's  arrival  with  her  dowry  at 
her  husband's  court,  her  murder,  and  the  miracle 
which  is  said  to  have  occurred  after  her  death.  A 
lamp" — so  runs  Gregory's  narrative  —  "which  was  sus- 
pended over  her  tomb  by  a  rope,  fell  upon  the  floor, 
though  no  one  touched  it,  by  the  breaking  of  the  rope, 
and  the  hard  pavement  yielding,  sank  into  it  as  though 
it  had  been  a  soft  mass,  till  it  was  covered,  yet  without 
sustaining  any  injury.  All  who  saw  it  were  amazed 
at  the  miracle,"  which  is  also  related  by  Fortunatus. 

"  He  is  coming "  takes  us  to  Rome  again.  The 
festival  of  Bacchus  has  begun,  the  shouts  and  the 
music  of  the  flutes  have  already  died  away,  and  the 
lovely  —  we  will  say  Lydia  —  clad  in  a  rose-colored 
robe,  stands  behind  the  curtain  watching  for  her  lover, 
who  will  clasp  her  in  his  arms,  and  inspired  by  the  god 
whirl  along  in  the  throng  of  frantic  revellers.''^ 

■^Blanchard  has  made  an  excellent  engraving  of  this  picture  also. 


72 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


The  next  painting  is  called  "  After  the  Dance." 
The  festival  of  Bacchus  is  over,  the  pious  frenzy  has 
ended,  and  the  weary  Bacchante  stretches  her  beautiful 
limbs  on  a  wild  beast's  skin  to  rest. 

After  these  genre  pictures  Tadema  finished  a  larger 
one,  which  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  word  is  an  histor- 
ical painting,  though  it  represents  no  one  movement  in 
the  history  of  the  world.  Here  the  artist  has  essayed 
to  depict  in  lines  and  colors  his  idea  of  the  power, 
influence,  and  environments  of  a  Roman  patrician. 
For  with  subtle  tact  he  has  chosen,  not  the  emperor's 
court,  where  the  armed  guards,  the  numerous  strange 
and  superb  details  would  have  required  too  large  a 
space,  but  the  house  of  the  greatest  and  most  powerful 
private  citizen  in  the  reign  of  Octavius  Augustus,  Mar- 
cus Vipsanius  Agrippa,  whose  proud  device  was : 
"  Absolutely  obedient,  but  only  to  07ie^'  and  of  whom 
Maecenas  is  said  to  liave  remarked,  that  he  had  grown 
so  great  that  there  was  notliing  left  for  the  emperor  to 
do  except  kill  him  or  make  hmi  his  son-in-law.  Every 
one  knows  him  as  Julia's  husband,  and  whoever 
searches  the  ruins  of  Rome  will  find  no  builder's 


AN  AUDIENCE  AT  AGRIPPA's. 


LORENZ   ALMA  TADEMA. 


73 


name  mentioned  more  frequently  than  his.  Various 
aqueducts,  such  as  the  Aqua  JuHa  and  Virgo,  the  Pan- 
theon, and  countless  other  architectural  works  arose 
under  his  auspices.  In  his  will  he  bequeathed  to  the 
people  his  gardens  and  the  thermae  which  bore  his 
name,  and  Octavius,  his  principal  heir,  and  whose 
most  trustworthy  confidant,  counsellor,  and  general 
Agrippa  had  been,  gave  to  the  citizens  of  Rome, 
in  honor  of  his  memory,  a  hundred  denarii  per 
man. 

In  this  picture  the  entrance  to  the  house  of  this 
true  noble  (perhaps  the  palace  of  Antonius,  presented 
by  Octavius  to  his  friend,  and  which  was  afterwards 
burned)  faces  the  spectator.  A  magnificent  wide  stair- 
case of  costly  marble  leads  to  the  spacious,  open,  pil- 
lared peristyle.  The  architecture  is  grand  and  stately, 
worthy  of  Agrippa.  On  the  plain  pedestal  at  the  foot 
of  the  steps  stands  a  lofty  statue,  not  the  one  of 
Agrippa  himself,  erected  to  him  by  the  city  of  Athens 
on  the  Acropolis,  but  that  of  the  only  man  he  knew 
how  to  obey,  Octavius  Augustus.  It  had  been 
intended  for  the  Pantheon,  but  the  emperor  had  for- 


74 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


bidden  that  it  should  be  placed  there,  so  one  of  Julius 
Caesar  had  been  substituted.  At  the  foot  of  this 
statue  stands  a  group  of  supplicants :  a  noble-looking 
man  in  the  costume  of  an  Oriental  prince,  who  with 
his  wife  or  daughter  has  come  to  ask  a  boon  of  the 
citizen  before  whom  kings  bowed.  The  daughter 
holds  in  her  hand  a  costly  golden  vessel,  either  to  offer 
it  as  a  gift  to  their  exalted  patron  or  to  pour  a  libation 
before  him  as  if  he  were  a  god  (an  inscription  in  Myti- 
lene  calls  him  "god  and  preserver").  Their  young 
companion  is  calling  to  the  prince,  —  who  is  pondering 
over  the  Avords  with  which  he  is  to  touch  the  heart  of 
the  omnipotent  Roman,  —  that  Agrippa  is  coming,  and 
in  fact  he  appears  on  the  staircase.  Calmly  and  silently 
he  moves  with  quiet  dignity  down  the  steps,  followed 
at  a  respectful  distance  by  a  throng  of  clients.  The 
attention  of  every  figure  represented  —  and  the  specta- 
tor's also  —  is  centred  upon  the  solitary  man  midway 
down  the  staircase,  who  obeys  only  07ie^  even  in  the 
presence  of  that  072e^  who  from  his  marble  pedestal 
silently  towers  above  the  whole  scene.  The  throng  of 
patricians  following  Agrippa  are  expecting  his  sign,  the 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


75 


noble  petitioners  are  waiting  in  breathless  suspense. 
Soon  he  will  step  upon  the  threshold  where  the  tiger- 
skin  lies,  and  the  prince  will  stop  him  to  listen  to  his 
business,  his  daughter  will  offer  her  gift  and  pay  him 
homage  as  a  god,  the  clients  will  stand  still  as  though 
spellbound,  until  it  has  i)leased  the  great  man  to  grant 
or  refuse  the  boon,  set  his  foot  on  the  lowest  step,  and 
enter  the  street. 

How  complete  is  the  unity  existing  between  the 
numerous  parts  of  this  scene,  how  fully  it  expresses  the 
idea  of  the  boundless  power  of  a  great  citizen  of 
greater  Rome  !  What  a  wealth  of  marvellous  color 
this  picture  contains,  how  varied  and  peculiar  are  the 
tints,  yet  how  harmoniously  they  blend  together.  In 
no  other  painting  have  I  seen  stone  painted  in  such 
undefined  hues,  but  nature  has  showed  us  the  same  or 
similar  ones,  and  the  lighter  shades  of  the  robes  and 
the  tiger-skin  in  the  foreground  contrast  with  them  as 
the  sharper  notes  of  well-tuned  flutes  stand  forth  from 
the  music  of  the  softer  instruments  in  the  execution  of 
a  fine  symphony.  Long  treatises  upon  the  influential 
position  of  a  man  like  Agrippa  cannot  teach  what  this 


76 


LOKENZ  ALxMA  TADEMA. 


picture  silently,  yet  with  indelible  distinctness,  impresses 
upon  the  mind  of  every  beholder. 

In  1876  came  the  cliarming  picture  "  Hide  and 
Seek,"  which  I  liave  had  copied.  It  transports  us  to 
the  Roman  Villa  Albani.  The  long  flight  of  steps  that 
leads  through  the  garden  to  the  summer  palace  is 
entirely  deserted.  The  noonday  sun  shines  on  the 
bright  marble,  and  even  the  lofty  her77i(X  on  the  terrace 
afford  scanty  shade.  AVho  would  linger  in  the  open 
air  now,  who  would  not  prefer  to  rest  in  the  cool 
shadow  of  the  villa  ?  But  love  and  children  at  play 
do  not  ask  about  the  position  of  the  sun,  and  the  wild 
httle  maid  —  perhaps  the  gardener's  daughter — has 
hidden  behind  the  henna  and  is  listening  for  the  play- 
mate who  is  seeking  her  and  steals  up  so  softly  that 
he  will  surprise  the  wilful  elf  with  the  thick  locks  of 
hair  and  the  saucy  eyes.  The  boy  has  won  in  the 
game  of  hide  and  seek;  but  will  he  not  lose  in  the 
more  serious  one  with  this  fairy  lassie  ? 

Tadema's  "  Hope  and  Fear  "  shows  us  the  figure 
of  an  old  man  who  resembles  Priam  and  Nestor;  his 
Nymphaum  "  is  a  beautiful  woman  who,  not  yet  dis- 


HIDE  AND  SEEK. 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


77 


robed,  lies  stretclied 
on  the  costly  mosaic 
pavement,  supported 
by  a  cushion,  and 
gazes  half-searching- 
ly,  half-dreamily,  into 
the  warm  water  that 
invites  her  to  bathe. 
The  bahieatrix  "  is 
bringing  warm  towels 
to  wipe  the  lady's 
limbs,  after  she  emerg- 
es  from  the  bath. 
Another  exquisite 
painting  shows  us 
Roman  women  bath- 
ing in  the  rushing 
water  of  the  thermae. 

A  great  sensation 
was  made  by  The 
Sculptor's  Model,"  a 
picture  of  life-size, 


THE  *'BALNEATRIX." 


78 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


completed  in  1877,  which  was  suggested  to  the  artist 
by  the  excavation  of  the  so-called  EsquiHne  Venus 
(discovered  in  1874).  The  model  in  this  work  of  art 
is  represented  in  the  same  attitude  its  sculptor  gave  it. 
The  warm  flesh  tones  of  the  beautiful  nude  limbs  form 
an  extremely  effective  contrast  to  the  cool  gray  of  the 
bas-relief  on  the  wall  behind.  The  slender,  girlish 
figure  is  well  rounded,  but  not  voluptuous,  and  the 
deeply-shadowed,  delicately-cut  features  tell  a  whole 
history.  This  young  creature  has  come  to  the  studio 
reluctantly  and,  as  she  stands  holding  up  her  hair  with 
the  left  hand  while  the  right  rests  on  a  palm-branch, 
she  is  vexed  that  she  is  compelled  to  pose  as  a  model 
and  the  time  seems  long.  Outside  of  art-circles  this 
superb  picture  would  probably  be  less  pleasing  than 
many  other  creations  of  the  master,  but  the  connoisseur 
must  hold  it  in  specially  high  esteem  for  the  marvellous 
effects  of  light,  in  which  it  is  so  rich,  and  the  exquisite 
golden  tones  of  its  coloring.  Bold  as  is  the  idea  of 
flooding  even  this  beautiful  flesh  with  such  warm  tones, 
daintily  and  airily  as  the  feathery  fronds  of  the  palm 
leaves  flicker  over  the  grand,  noble  lines  of  the  nude 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


79 


body,  this  picture  nevertheless  produces  a  chaste  im- 
pressioHi 

The  purity  of  the  artist's  soul  seems  to  imprint  its 
stamp  on  all  his  creations.  Like  the  ancients  he  does 
not  shrink  from  nature,  it  only  fascinates  him  and 
tempts  him  to  represent  it  for  the  sake  of  its  beauty, 
and  to  him  the  idea  of  beauty  is  associated  with  purity. 
Besides,  he  has  made  the  ^'  moderation  "  of  antiquity 
his  own  and  remains  faithful  to  it,  even  when  depicting 
passionate  movement,  as  in  his  "  Pyrrhic  Dance." 

What  a  task  it  was  to  represent  with  brush  and 
colors  this  mimic  game  of  war,"  as  Plato  calls  it,  and 
how  he  has  accomplished  it !  The  vase-pictures  have 
showed  him  the  ranks  of  men  in  full  armor  with  float- 
ing plumes  on  the  crests  of  their  helmets;  Plato  taught 
him  how  in  this  (afterwards  also  Roman)  game,  the 
mock  combatants  advanced  toward  each  other  and, 
with  flexible  movements  and  beautiful  pantomine, 
simulated  retreat  and  assault  as  it  was  practised  in 
bloody  battles  against  the  foe.  How  exciting  this 
dance  must  have  been  to  the  spectators;  how  much 
grace,  power,  and  beauty  it  must  have  been  possible  to 


8o 


LORENZ    ALMA  TADEMA. 


display,  since  it  is  well  attested  that  Caligula,  and  even 
Nero,  bestowed  citizenship  upon  the  ephebe  who  had 
danced  the  Pyrrhic  [Trpppix-n)  particularly  well. 

One  would  fain  join  the  old  men  and  youths  under 
the  colonnade  to  witness  this  dance  as  Tadema  repre- 
sents it.  What  delicate  tact  it  requires  not  to  overstep 
the  limits  of  moderation  and  to  make  the  spectacle  of 
men  dancing  with  men,  which  is  repugnant  to  our  cus- 
tom, not  only  endurable  but  beautiful,  dignified,  and  at 
the  same  time  animated  and  vigorous.  One  step  more, 
and  this  dance  of  men  would  seem  to  us  rude;  one 
less,  and  it  might  tempt  the  spectator  to  laugh.  An 
Egyptian  King  of  the  race  of  the  Ptolemies,  before 
whom  it  had  probably  been  badly  performed,  had  it 
danced  by  apes,  and  the  caricature  was  successful 
until  a  wag  flung  some  nuts  among  the  four-footed 
dancers.  A  ludicrous  idea  for  Paul  Meyerheim!  Does 
not  this  anecdote  show  that  the  Pyrrhic,  when  not 
admirably  and  decorously  performed,  might  seem  comi- 
cal even  to  the  Greeks  ?  But  I  think  they,  too,  would 
have  enjoyed  Tadema's. 

In  the  spring  of  1878  the  master  again  went  to 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


8l 


Italy,  and  the  picture  he  finished  before  his  departure 
seems  to  have  been  created  under  the  influence  of  his 
dehght  in  the  sunshine  and  radiant  colors  he  expected 
to  find  there.  He  called  it  "  A  loving  Welcome,"  and 
it  glows  with  liglit,  bright-hued  flowers,  and  heartfelt 
joy. 

The  spectator  sees  the  tiny  enclosed  garden  of  a 

Pomi)eian  house,  and  nowhere  has  summer  painted 

poppies  in  brighter  hues  than  in  the  bed  before  us, 

more  brilliant  sunflowers  have  never  opened  than  those 

on  yonder  wall.    The  sun-dial  points  to  the  hour  after 

noon,  and  the  sun  is  shining  brightly  and  warmly  on 

the  temples  and  larger  buildings  that  tower  above  the 

cheerful  house.    Great  joy  reigns  there,  for  the  little 

daughter  has  returned  and  is  clinging  around  the  neck 

of  her  mother,  who  has  hurried  forward  in  advance  of 

the  father  to  greet  her.    But  his  turn  will  come.  He 

is  an  author,  philosopher,  or  poet  —  the  papyrus  roll  in 

his  hand  shows  it  —  and  when  tidings  came  that  the 

expected   darling   had   arrived,  he   left   his  writing 

almost  as  quickly  as  the  mother  her  household  duties. 

How  tender,  how  joyous  is  this  greeting  !    Every  mem- 

6 


82 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


ber  of  the  household  must  share  it.  A  maid-servant  is 
coming,  bringing  the  youngest  child  to  meet  the  return- 
ing daughter.  Even  the  dog  wants  to  greet  her,  and 
on  the  right,  in  the  shade  where  the  altar  stands,  the 
water  is  pouring  from  the  fountain  as  though  it,  too, 
wished  to  ripple  its  "  welcome."  I  fully  agree  with 
Vosmaer,  Rembrandt's  biographer,  when  he  says  of 
this  picture :  The  harmonious  combination  of  light 
and  shade,  the  subtle  choice  of  colors,  the  vigor  and 
glow  of  the  tints,  the  extreme  dehcacy  of  the  execution 
of  details,  with  the  broad  and  flowing  style,  make 
this  painting  to  me  one  of  the  master's  most  perfect 
works." 

This  it  certainly  is;  but  two  years  later  he  created  a 
similar  one  which  I  prefer;  for  paintings  are  hke  chil- 
dren; to  the  possessor,  one  of  their  most  beautiful 
qualities  is  that  they  are  his^  and  the  writer  of  these 
lines  has  the  happiness  of  owning  a  picture  which 
Tadema  called  "  The  Parting  Kiss."  He  knows  it  like 
his  own  child,  his  favorite  work,  yet  daily  finds  new 
beauties.  It,  too,  transports  us  to  a  Pompeian  house. 
A  slave  is  holding  the  door  open,  and  through  it  we 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


83 


see  the  street,  where  the  chariot  is  waiting,  and  beyond 
tlie  azure  sea  filhng  the  gentle  curve  of  the  bay.  In 
the  beautiful  anteroom,  in  whose  marble  floor  is  set  a 
basin  surrounded  by  rich  mosaic  ornaments,  stands 
the  lovely  young  mother  bending  to  her  little  half- 
grown  daughter,  who  lovingly  stretches  her  arms  to 
her  and  joyously  receives  the  farewell  kiss.  The 
father's  bust  looks  down  from  a  high  pedestal  upon 
this  pleasant  scene,  so  full  of  deep  and  warm  affection. 
It  is  no  sorrowful  parting,  there  is  no  long  separation 
in  view;  the  chariot  will  probably  only  convey  the 
mother  to  her  i)arents  in  Herculaneum  or  to  the  baths 
at  Baiae.  But  what  lends  this  gem  of  a  painting  a 
special  value,  is  the  circumstance  that  the  beautiful 
young  mother  with  the  violets  in  her  hair  is  the  artist's 
wife,  the  little  daughter  is  pretty  Miss  Anne  Tadema, 
and  the  bust  on  the  pedestal  represents  the  master. 
All  three  are  excellent  likenesses,  recognizable  at  the 
first  glance.  Valuable  as  this  painting  is  to  the  writer 
as  a  work  of  art,  it  is  the  portraits  that  make  it  dear 
to  him. 

In  Rome  (1878)  Tadema  commenced  the  "Four 


84 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


Seasons,"  which  have  become  very  well  known  through 
Blan chard's  engravings. 

" Spring"  is  thus  represented  :  Through  a  meadow  so 
verdant  and  flowery  that  it  rejoices  the  beholder's  hearty 
a  girl  is  walking,  a  lovely,  modest,  fresh  little  maiden, 
herself  a  spring-blossom  just  unfolded,  gazing  con- 
fusedly, unconscious  of  the  magic  of  her  own  cliarms^ 
at  the  flower  in  her  left  hand.  The  first  spring-tide 
ray  of  love  is  just  shining  into  her  heart,  and  now  the 
flower  must  serve  her  as  an  oracle ;  or  is  she  only  won- 
dering whether  she  can  venture  to  give  him  the  blossom 
she  has  gathered  ? 

"Summer!"  A  hot  day!  In  the  batli-room  of  an 
aristocratic  house  —  lined  throughout  with  exquisitely 
carved  marble  —  a  lovely,  languid  girl  slowly  fanning 
herself  Avith  an  ostrich-feather  fan,  reclines  in  the  oval 
basin  sunk  in  the  floor.  The  cool  water  ripples  around 
her  beautiful  limbs,  and  on  its  surface  float  the  gay 
petals  of  countless  fragrant  summer  flowers.  On  the 
bench  above  the  tub  the  bather's  beautiful  sister  is 
sleeping  in  indolent  ease. 

Autumn :  "  Flames  are  ascending  from  the  altar  of 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


sacrifice,  flaring  up  to  the  lofty  hernia  with  the  bearded 
Silenus,  around  whose  head  vine-leaves  twine  and 
from  whose  temples  hang  bunches  of  grapes.  A  tall 
amphora,  containing  the  fresh  juice  of  this  autumn's 
vintage,  leans  against  the  wall,  a  wine-jar  stands  in  the 
midst  of  the  fire.  Dionysius  is  to  be  thanked  for  the 
best  gift  of  autumn,  and  before  the  altar  a  young 
Bacchante  floats  with  swift  step  in  a  whirling  dance. 
In  her  right  hand  she  holds  a  burning  torch,  in  her  left 
an  exquisitely-formed  goblet.  A  garland  adorns  her 
thick  dark  locks,  and  the  panther-skin  hangs  in  shining 
hues  across  her  arm  and  breast  down  on  her  simple 
robe. 

"  Winter :  "  A  family  is  seeking  shelter  from  the  wintry 
cold  at  the  foot  of  a  huge  column.  The  little  portable 
stove  diffuses  warmth  and  the  steam  of  boiling  food. 
The  plain  meal  has  begun.  The  young  mother,  who 
is  sitting  between  the  head  of  the  family  and  a  pretty 
girl  —  perhaps  her  sister  —  lifts  her  little  one  gaily  to 
her  blooming  face,  as  if  she  wanted  it  to  share  her 
enjoyment  of  the  warm  nook  and  waiting  repast.  A 
pleasant  scene  of  simple  yet  cosy  winter  comfort. 


86 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


The  painting  "  Fredegunde  and  Galsvintha  "  is  a 
representation  from  the  cycle  of  the  tragedy  of  an 
estimable  woman.  Besides  this  picture  of  life-size,  he 
also  finished  in  1878  his  smallest  painting:  Ques- 
tion." This  tiny  work  of  art  can  be  covered  by  a  man's 
two  hands,  yet  in  the  great  art  exhibition  at  Munich,  in 
1879,  no  other  exerted  even  an  approximate  power  of 
attraction.  Whenever  I  approached,  it  was  surrounded 
by  a  dense  throng,  and  what  rarely  occurs  happened 
in  this  case  —  both  critics  and  public  Avere  equally 
pleased. 

A  summer  day,  bright,  clear,  and  warm  as  only  the 
happy  South  can  bestow.  The  sea,  a  glittering  ex- 
panse of  the  purest  blue,  mirrors  the  cloudless  sky 
above  it.  On  a  white  marble  bench  upon  its  shore 
reclines  a  youth  who  is  asking  the  fair-haired  girl  sit- 
ting beside  him  with  her  lap  full  of  roses,  a  question. 
Who  ever  left  this  picture  without  feeling  that  he  had 
been  permitted  to  cast  a  glance  into  a  brighter,  happier 
world  than  ours?  Who  did  not  have  the  happy  pair 
on  the  marble  bench  impressed  upon  his  memory? 
This  painting  gave  me  no  rest  until  I  had  found  the 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


87 


answer  to  the  question  it  puts  to  the  spectator,  and 
written  my  idyl  "A  Question." 

In  the  Art-Palace  on  green  Isar's  strand, 
Before  one  picture  long  I  kept  my  seat, 
It  held  me  spellbound  by  some  magic  band, 
Nor,  when  my  home  I  sought,  could  I  forget. 

A  year  elapsed,  came  winter's  frost  and  snow, 
'Twas  rarely  now  we  saw  the  bright  sun  shine, 
I  plucked  up  courage  and  cried  :  **  Be  it  so  !" 
Then  southward  wandered  with  those  I  call  mine. 

Like  birds  of  passage  built  we  there  a  nest 
On  a  palm-shaded  shore,  all  steeped  in  light, 
Life  was  a  holiday,  enjoyed  with  zest 
And  grateful  hearts,  the  while  it  winged  its  flight. 

Oft  on  the  sea's  wide,  purplish-blue  expanse. 
With  ever  new  delight  I  fixed  my  eyes, 
Tadema's  picture,  now  at  every  glance 
Recalled  to  mind,  a  thousand  times  would  rise. 

Once  a  day  dawned,  glad  as  a  bride's  fair  face, 
Perfume,  and  light,  and  joy  it  did  enfold. 
Then — without  search,  flitted  from  out  of  space 
Words  for  the  tale  that  my  friend's  picture  told. 


88 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


This  is  exactly  how  I  chanced  to  create  my  un- 
pretending work  "  A  Question."* 

In  1879  appeared  the  pictures :  "  Down  the 
Stream,"  "  The  Garden-Altar,"  Not  at  Home,"  "To 
the  temple  of  Ceres,"  and,  in  1880,  "Ave  Caesar 
Imperator." 

In  1 88 1  Tadema  completed  his  "  Sappho,"  a  paint- 
ing that  excited  the  greatest  admiration  at  the  Berlin 
Art  Exhibition,  not  only  on  account  of  its  exquisite  re- 
production of  marble,  but  for  the  marvellous  grouping 
of  the  figures  and  the  thoroughly  antique  repose  in 
which  the  whole  is  steeped.  If  my  opinion  is  correct, 
Tadema  has  this  time  taken  his  subject  from  an  elegy 
of  the  Hermesian  in  which  are  the  lines  : 

*'  Surely  thou  know'st  how,  in  the  Lesbian  land, 
Alcseus  oft  the  festal  dances  led, 

Kindled  by  Sappho's  charms,  fierce  glowed  love's  brand, 
As,  lauding  her  in  song,  the  lute  he  played." 

He,  Alcaeus,  not  Sappho,  is  the  principal  figure  in 

*  Authorized  English  translation  published  by  William  S.  Gotts- 
berger,  N.  Y. 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


89 


the  picture.  "  Lauding  her  in  song,"  he  sounds  the 
stringed  instrument,  but  bending  over  the  table  and 
the  wreath  lying  on  it,  she  listens  with  the  utmost 
pleasure.  Beside  her  stands  the  little  daughter  she 
mentions  in  one  of  her  songs,  and  in  the  exedra  sit  the 
friends  and  pupils  of  the  ninth  muse,"  "  the  female 
Homer,"  delighted  to  hear  her  extolled  by  this  master. 
Tadema's  conception  of  the  person  of  the  great  poetess 
is  noble  and  striking.  This  is  not  the  love-sick  woman 
whom  legend  —  probably  associated  with  the  comedy 
written  later  —  asserts  killed  herself  because  of  unre- 
quited love,  but  the  poetess  of  whom  Pinytus'  epitaph 
says  : 

Earth  covers  naught  save  Sappho's  dust  and  name, 
But  her  wise  song  enjoys  immortal  fame." 

Tadema  sliows  us  tliis  wise  songstress,  yet  we  un- 
derstand that  she  was  capable  of  the  ardent  passion 
which  pervades  some  of  the  few  poems  that  have  been 
preserved  to  our  day.  There  is  a  superb  contrast 
between  the  white  marble,  the  figures  in  the  full  glow 
of  light,  and  the  dark  blue  sea  in  the  background. 


go 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


Unfortunately  I  have  not  seen  "  Cleopatra/'  "  Read- 
ing Horace  Aloud,"  nor  Hadrian  visiting  a  pottery 
in  Britain."  The  composition  of  the  latter  work  is- 
said  to  be  one  of  Tadema's  greatest  masterpieces ;  un- 
doubtedly the  details  are  exquisite,  for  he  is  an  admirer 
and  thorough  connoisseur  of  antique  vessels,  and  has 
frequently  represented  with  both  pencil  and  colors  the 
potter's  art  and  its  products.  Does  he  wish  thereby  to 
show  his  gratitude  to  the  daughter  of  Dibutades,  the 
potter,  who  according  to  tradition  invented  his  own  art, 
painting  ? 

Tadema  has  also  proved  himself  a  portrait  painter ; 
the  likeness  of  his  daughter  Anne  —  which  the  reader 
may  enjoy — was  an  ornament  of  the  last  Berlin  ex- 
hibition. 

Having  already  exceeded  my  allotted  space,  I  am 
prohibited  from  mentioning  separately  the  portraits  and 
water-colors  I  know  he  lias  executed.  The  latter 
would  be  well  worthy  of  a  minute  description,  for  with 
the  exception  of  Menzel,  whom  Tadema  deeply  and 
cordially  admires,  no  living  artist  lias  surpassed  him  in 
this  mode  of  painting.    His  wife,  who  creates  such 


MISS  ANNE  TADEMA. 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA.  9I 


charming  oil-paintings,  is  also  a  dainty  water-colorist. 
The  scenes  he  painted  for  the  tableaux  given  —  partly 
by  his  assistance  and  influence  —  in  aid  of  the  inun- 
dated Rhenish  provinces  were  masterpieces.  Other 
small  pictures,  sketched  in  leisure  hours,  have  been 
transformed  into  stage  decorations  by  managers  who 
appreciated  their  charms. 

The  tree  shall  be  known  by  its  fruits;  to  give  an 
accurate  portrait  of  the  artist  I  have  entered  into  a 
minute  description  of  his  works.  Whoever  knows  these, 
knows  the  man  himself  In  my  opinion  the  time  for  a 
complete  picture  of  Tadema's  personality  has  not  yet 
arrived;  he  is  still,  thank  God,  among  the  ranks  of  the 
living,  and  when  in  the  future  his  last  hour  strikes,  many 
hands  more  skilled  than  mine  will  hasten  to  write  his 
eulogy.  As  for  me,  I  can  only  say  that  I  consider  it  a 
special  favor  of  fortune  to  be  permitted  to  call  this  rare, 
highly-educated,  warm-hearted  man,  and  genuine  artist, 
my  friend.  With  so  much  genius,  such  a  wealth  of 
knowledge,  and  such  unusually  wide  renown,  he  has 
retained  a  charming  simplicity  of  character.  Whoever 
knows  him,  knows  the  source  of  the  light  and  sunny 


92 


LORENZ  ALMA  TADEMA. 


cheerfulness  that  irradiate  many  of  his  paintings ;  they 
proceed  from  his  pure,  chaste  soul,  which  is  overflowing 
with  them.  I  shall  never  forget  his  face  and  the  spark- 
ling of  his  artist-eyes  as  one  May  day  while  we  were 
driving  with  our  wives,  amid  sunlight,  fres?i  spring 
foliage,  and  singing  birds,  through  the  unpretending 
Leipsic  Rosenthal,  he  exclaimed  :  Ebers,  the  world 
is  still  beautiful !" 


THE 


EBERS  GALLERY 

A  COLLECTION  OF  PAINTINGS 

ILLUSTRATING  THE 

ROMANCES  OF   GEORG  EBERS 

BY  THE  FOLLOWING  ARTISTS 

L.  Alma-Tadema,  W.  a.  Berk,  W.  Gentz,  P.  Grot-Johann, 
H.  Kaulbach,    Ferd.  Keller,    O.  Knille,    F.  Simm, 
Laura  Tadema,  E.  Teschendgrff,  P.  Thumann. 


T\VP]NTY  ILLUSTRATIONS 

WITH  DESCRIPTIVE  LETTER-PRESS 
Printed  from  handsome  large  ne^u  type  on  plate-paper 

Photographic  Reproduction  by  Friedrich  Bruckmann  of  Munich 

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One  Vol.,  F'olio,  bound  in  half  morocco,  gilt  edges, 

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LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


AN  EGYPTIAN  TRINCESS 
Paul  Tpiumann  :  Sappho  and  Bartja  in  the  garden. 
Franz  Simm  :  Xitetis  and  Cambyses  ;  their  first  niceting. 
Ferdinand  Keller  :  Nitetis  in  the  Hanging  Gatdens  overlooking 

the  plain  of  Babylon. 
Paul  Grot- J  oh  an  n  :  The  sick  Tachot  on  the  balcony. 

UARDA 

Ferdinand  Keller:  Ameni  and  Bent-Anat ;  the  high-priest  refus- 
ing her  admission  to  the  Temple. 

WiLHELM  Gentz:  Uarda  attended  by  the  physician  Nebsecht  and 
her  grandmother. 

Emil  Teschendorff  :  Uarda  and  Rameri  outside  the  paraschites' 
hut. 

HOMO  SUxM 
WiLHELM  Gentz  :  Miriam  with  the  goats  at  the  spring. 
Lorenz  Alma-Tadema  :  Paulus  and  Hermas  throwing  the  discus. 
Ferdinand  Keller:  Paulus  and  Sirona  ;  the  anchorite  rescuing 
her. 

THE  SrSTERS 
Emil  Teschendorff  :  The  Sisters  ;  Klea  discovering  the  violets  in 

Irene's  hair. 
Emil  Teschendorff:  Klea  in  the  Temple. 

THE  EMPEROR 
Ferdinand  Keller  :  Selene  thrown  down  by  Argus. 
Otto  Knille  :  Hadrian  and  Antinous  in  the  palace  at  Lohcias. 

A  QUESTION 

Lorenz  Alma-Tadema,  Phaon  and  Xanthe  on  the  marble  bench. 

THE  BURGOMASTER'S  WIFE 
Hermann  Kaulbach:  Maria  gazing  on  the  portrait  of  her  hus- 
band's first  wife. 

Hermann  Kaulbach:  Georg  and  Maria  meeting  on  the  stairs. 
Laura  Tadema:  Maria  at  the  bedside  of  the  sick  Bessie. 

A  WORD,  ONLY  A  WORD 
Hermann  Kaulbach  :  Ulrich  and  Ruth  ;  the  thunder-shower  in 
the  woods. 

W.  A.  Beer  :  The  Fhght ;  Dr.  Costa  and  his  family  abandon  their 
home. 


A    GALLERY    OF    EBERS'  HEROINES. 


(EXTRAC  T  FROM  ARTICLE  T.\  THE  BOOK  lUTYER,  CHRISTMAS,  1885.) 

Only  Ciustav  Frcytag  has  before  been  illustrated  on  so 
magnificent  a  scale,  and  Victor  Scheffel's  '  Kkkehard  '  lias  also 
set  some  very  skilful  brushes  in  motion.  But  anything  quite  so 
elaborate,  and,  at  the  same  time,  so  artistically  satisfactory,  has, 
we  believe,  never  before  been  attempted.  The  Egyptian  ro- 
mances of  Ebers,  quite  apart  from  their  literary  merit,  are  replete 
with  scenes  of  striking  picturesqueness  ;  and  no  more  tempting 
subjects  for  pictorial  skill  could  be  imagined  than  his  archaeologi- 
cal love-making,  murders,  and  abductions,  traced  in  bold  relief 
against  a  background  of  sphinxes  and  pyramids.  There  is  a  glow 
and  splendor  of  color  in  them  all  which  is  ravishing.  With  the 
aid  of  these  pictures,  which  are  as  beautiful  as  they  are  faithful  in 
archaeological  detail,  the  civilization  of  ancient  Egypt  becomes  as 
vivid  and  intelligent  to  us  as  that  of  the  l^arisian  boulevards. 

*Mf  there  is  any  picture  in  the  collection  which  rises  above 
the  high  average  level  of  excellence,  it  is  Ferdinand  Keller's 
*  Nitetis  in  the  Hanging  Garden  overlooking  the  Plains  of 
Babylon.'  We  have  never  seen  the  Egyptian  type  of  woman- 
hood so  vividly  realized,  so  exquisitely  refined,  yet  so  distinctly 
individual.  One  becomes  conscious  of  a  certain  tenderness  for 
the  mummies  in  the  British  Museum,  and  a  desire  for  their 
acquaintance,  after  having  gazed  for  a  while  at  this  lovely  daugh- 
ter of  the  Pharaohs.  Wasn't  Moses  rather  prejudiced  in  the  view 
he  took  of  the  Egyptians,  and  wouldn't  it  be  well  to  read  Ebers 
before  giving  our  sympathies  so  unqualifiedly  to  the  Hebrews  in 
the  conflict?  Reflections  of  this  sort  urge  themselves  upon  us  as 
we  contemplate  the  sweet  humanity  with  which  artists  like  Keller, 
Thumann,  Gentz,  and  Teschendorff  have  invested  their  types  of 
Egyptian  w^omanhood.  Teschendorff  is  more  conventional  than 
Keller,  more  modern,  and  less  Oriental.  His  Uarda  is  German, 
though,  in  her  interview  with  the  prince,  so  lovely  that  her 
nationality  becomes  a  matter  of  no  consequence.  Alma-Tadema's 
two  pictures,  which  are  here  photographically  reproduced,  deal 
with  the  Greek  scenes  with  which  Ebers'  romances  are  abun- 
dantly intersprinkled.  Prof.  Paul  Thumann  hovers  upon  the 
borderland  of  Greek  and  Oriental  civilization  in  his  *  Sappho  and 
Bartja, '  in  which,  by  the  way,  the  drawing  is  marvellously  skilful. 
The  sweep  of  the  girl's  figure  is  graceful,  animated,  and  beauti- 
fully expressive." — //.  //.  Boycsen. 


THE  ROMANCES 

O  F 

GEORO  EBERS 


COMPRISING  : 


AK  EGYPTIAK  PRIHCESS, 

TWO  VOLS. 


SER  APIS, 

ONE  VOL. 

UARD  A, 

TWO  VOLS. 

THE  SISTERS, 

ONE  VOL. 


THE  EMPEROR, 

TWO  VOLS. 

HOMO  SUM, 

ONE  VOL. 

A  QUESTION, 

ONE  VOL. 


A  WORD,  ONLY  A  WORD, 

ONE  VOL. 

THE  BURGOMASTER'S  WIFE, 

ONE  VOL. 


TWELVE   VOLUMES,    uniform,  in  the  following  colors: 

Brown,  Olive,  Blue,  Green,  and  Red, 
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TWELVE  VOLUMES, 

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A  QUESTION.  The  idyl  of  a  picture,  by 
his  friend  Alma  Tadema,  related  by  Georg 
Ebers,  from  the  German,  by  Mary  J.  Safford. 
Authorized  edition,  in  one  vol.,  with  frontispiece. 

"  Georg  Kbers'  little  Sicilian  love  idyl,  called  *  A 
Question,'  is  a  very  ^//^?//,  a  rose-bud  of  a  book.  The 
perfume  of  blushing  roses  that  hang  from  sunny  garden 
walls,  and  the  refreshing  chill  of  summer  dew,  give  the 
like  pleasure  that  this  story  gives.  It  has  the  purity  of 
the  severest  classicism,  with  just  a  tinge  of  delicate 
Gothic  glow  and  passion  —  as,  in  Sicily,  it  is  said  snow 
sometimes  falls  on  full-blown  roses.  It  is  delightfully 
pagan,  and  successfully  Greek,  having  the  vraise?nhlance 
of  Becker's  ^  Charicles,'  without  a  particle  of  its  grossness. 
The  scene  of  the  tale  is  the  villa  of  a  wealthy  vSyracusan, 
and  'the  question' to  be  settled  is:  Shall  the  lovely 
Xanthe  marry  her  childhood's  playmate,  Phaon,  whom 
she  loves,  or  shall  she  take  Leonax,  of  Messina.  The 
old  shrew  housekeeper,  Semestre,  favors  Leonax,  and 
Xanthe  wavers  a  little  in  her  choice,  because  she  is  told 
that  Phaon  has  been  spending  his  nights  in  rioting  with 
flute-women.  She  finds  him  asleep  on  a  marble  bench 
in  the  garden,  sits  by  his  head  with  her  gathered  roses, 
and,  when  he  awakes,  reproaches  him  tearfully  with  his 
wantonness.  But  when  she  discovers  that  his  sleepless 
nights  have  been  passed  up  in  her  father's  olive-groves,  in 
order  that  he  might  defend  them  from  thieves  during  the 
father's  tem])orary  illness,  she,  of  course,  is  melted  into 
tender  forgiveness,  and  the  two  are  betrothed  and  after- 
wards happily  married. 

"  One  is  in  doubt  whether  Ebers  wrote  this  little 
book  for  children  or  not.  At  any  rate,  it  is  one  of  those 
occasional  volumes  that  please  all  ages  equally  well ; 
just  as  a  hundred  human  beings,  each  with  a  different  eye, 
would  alike  admire  a  cluster  of  ripe  currants,  a  spray  of 
apple-blossoms,  or  the  delicate  green  of  a  curling  wave." 
—  The  American,  Philadelphia,  May  28,  1881.  ' 


THE  AMAZOK.  —  An  Art-Novel,  by  Carl  Vosmaer, 

from  the  Dutch  by  E.  J.  Irving,  with  frontispiece  by  Ahna 
Tadema,  R.  A.,  and  preface  by  Georg  Ebers.  In  one  vol. 
Paper,  40  cts.    Cloth,  75  cts. 


Among  the  poets  who  never  overstep  the  limits  of  probability 
and  yet  aspire  to  realize  the  ideal,  in  whose  works  we  breathe  a 
purer  air,  who  have  power  to  enthral  and  exalt  the  reader's  soul, 
to  stimulate  and  enrich  his  mind,  we  must  number  the  Nether- 
lander Vosmaer. 

''The  Novel  'Amazon,'  which  attracted  great  and  just  attention 
in  the  author's  fatherland,  has  been  translated  into  our  tongue  at 
my  special  request.  In  Vosmaer  we  find  no  appalling  incident, 
no  monstrous  or  morbid  psychology,  neither  is  the  worst  side  of 
human  nature  portrayed  in  glaring  colors.  The  reader  is  afforded 
ample  opportunity  of  delighting  himself  with  delicate  pictures  of 
the  inner  life  and  spiritual  conflicts  of  healthy-minded  men  and 
women.  In  this  book  a  profc^und  student  of  ancient  as  well  as 
modern  art  conducts  us  from  Paestum  to  Naples,  thence  to  Rome, 
making  us  participators  in  the  highest  and  greatest  the  Eternal 
City  can  offer  to  the  soul  of  man. 

"Vosmaer  is  a  poet  by  the  grace  of  God,  as  he  has  proved  by 
poems  both  grave  and  gay;  by  his  translation  of  the  Iliad  into 
Dutch  hexameters,  and  by  his  lovely  epos  '  Nanno, '  His  numer- 
ous essays  on  aesthetics,  and  more  especially  his  famous  '  Life  of 
Rembrandt,'  have  secured  him  an  honorable  place  among  the  art- 
historians  of  our  day.  As  Deputy  Recorder  of  the  High  Court 
of  Justice  he  has,  during  the  best  years  of  his  life  (he  was  born 
March  20,  1826^,  enjoyed  extensive  opportunities  of  acquiring  a 
thorough  insight  into  the  social  life  of  the  present,  and  the  laby- 
rinths of  the  human  soul.  That  'The  Amazon,'  perhaps  the  ma- 
turest  work  of  this  author,  should— like  Vosmaer's  other  writings — 
be  totally  unknown  outside  Holland,  is  owing  solely  to  the  circum- 
stance that  most  of  his  works  are  written  in  his  mother-tongue,  and 
are  therefore  accessible  only  to  a  very  small  circle  of  readers. 

"  It  is  a  painful  thing  for  a  poet  to  have  to  write  in  a  language 
restricted  to  a  small  area ;  and  it  is  the  bounden  duty  of  the  lover 
of  literature  to  bring  what  is  excellent  in  the  literature  of  other 
lands  within  the  reach  of  his  own  countrymen.  Among  these 
excellent  works  Vosmaer's  'Amazon'  must  unquestionably  be 
reckoned.  It  introduces  us  to  those  whom  we  cannot  fail  to 
consider  an  acquisition  to  our  circle  of  acquaintances.  It  permits 
us  to  be  present  at  conversations  which  —  and  not  least  wdien  they 
l^rovoke  dissent  —  stimulate  our  minds  to  reflection.  No  one  who 
listens  to  them  can  depart  without  having  gained  something;  for 
Vosmaer's  novel  is  rich  in  subtle  observations  and  shrewd  re- 
marks, in  profound  thoughts  and  beautifully-conceived  situations." 
Extract  frofn  Georg  Ebers''  Preface  to  the  Gen?ian  Edition. 


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